Kenya’s first cancer hospital to be ready in 2017

The groundbreaking ceremony at Tesla Cancer Hospital at Ridgeways, Nairobi was the first phase in construction .The landmark medical centre would be a specialist cancer hospital, the first of its kind in East and Central Africa.

The hospital will incorporate diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients, surveillance and research. The facility will also establish a foundation through which deserving but under-privileged cancer patients will be treated.

Tesla Cancer hospital plans to provide the most modern diagnostic facilities such as cyclotron, the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa. Cyclotron is currently only available in Egypt, Morocco and South Africa.

Cyclotron technology will contribute to a more targeted and accurate cancer diagnosis. The availability of such advanced technology in cancer care and treatment will promote regional medical tourism from nearby African countries as well as reducing the number of Kenyans having to travel abroad to access cancer treatment services.

The hospital is a partnership between local entrepreneurs and US group General Electric, with support from the government of Kenya.

The rising burden of cancer in Kenya is attributed to risk factors that are influenced by improved incomes, rapid urbanization and unhealthy lifestyles such as tobacco use, consumption of unhealthy diets, insufficient physical activity and excessive consumption of alcohol.

The growing cancer burden is a major public health concern. It has significant social and economic implications in terms of health care needs, lost productivity and premature death. Local evidence shows that up to 60 % of those who die from cancer are in the most productive years of their lives.