New cancer treatments are in the pipeline for EA people

diet and physical activity, certain types of infections and environmental exposures to different types of chemicals and radiation.

We are told that some types of cancer run in certain families, but most cancers are not clearly linked to the genes we inherit from our parents. Also diet, physical activity, excess body weight, and alcohol use may have an effect on risk of cancer.

The scientists discovered a group of proteins that detect whether or not glucose is present and act as a ‘switch’. When food (glucose) is available, tumour cells use one biochemical path to survive and continue to thrive but when there is no glucose, the switch triggers a different path to achieve the same goal, and allow the tumour cells to survive.

In recent years, researchers have been keen to find out why some tumours resist the widely-used anti-angiogenic agents and whose effectiveness is based on prevention of growth of the blood vessels that supply the tumour, thus starving the cancer cells of nutrients.

We are very much delighted that the East African Development Bank (EADB) and the British Council in partnership with the Royal College of Physicians (London), has launched a medical training and fellowship programme to train 600 cancer specialists in the next four years.

According to the availed information the training will boost the medical fraternity capacity in fighting non-communicable diseases in particular, cancer and neurological disorders in East Africa. We are also told that the focus will be on early detection, research and treatment of cancer and neurological disorders in areas where access to qualified professionals remains a challenge.

The training comes at a time when the number of cancer cases worldwide is expected to surge by 75 per cent during the next two decades according to WHO cancer research. Deaths from cancers have been on the increase in the East African region, with 50 Kenyans dying daily from various forms of cancer.

The trend is the same across East Africa, with the main cause being associated with lack of treatment facilities and expertise for treatment, prevention and early detection.It is true that the East African Community had for a long time failed to prevent and treat the cancer scourge because of lack of trained and skilled doctors.

The ratio of doctor to population in the region is far below the UN standards. Through the training we hope over the long term to equip doctors in district hospitals across East Africa with the skills to effectively and promptly diagnose cancer and neurological disorders as well as facilitate early interventions either at the point of contact or by referral for advanced medical care.

The East African Community - with a population of more than 135 million - has great economic potential, but non-communicable diseases are a major threat to the region’s quest to achieve socio-economic development.

We commend and are pleased that the partnership with EADB and the Royal College of Physicians brings global expertise into the East African region and will lead to a rich exchange of skills, expertise and experience. We hope that the programme will lead to better health for the people of East Africa.