By Amy Moyi
Women in Nairobi county who cannot afford the hefty sum of 1500 Kenya shillings for mammograms and pelvic ultrasounds are being forced to miss out on the life-saving routine check-ups.
These critical routine check ups that are used in the early detection of breast, ovarian and cervical cancers, have become inaccessible to low and middle income women after the introduction of new charges across level 5 hospitals through the Nairobi County Finance Bill,2023.
In efforts to further increase collected revenue, the Nairobi County Finance Bill 2023, further introduced a new charge of 1000 Kenyan shillings across level 5 hospitals for pap smear tests which is used to detect cervical cancer.
In a statement issued by the National Taxpayers Association, the lobby group has called on the government to exercise fairness in revenue collection as well as in the use of collected revenue.
The executive director of the National Taxpayers Association Irene Otieno has said that over the years, the government has put in place measures to increase revenue collection but has cited the need to include taxpayers in decision making on revenue collection as well as accountability on the use of collected revenue.
The National Taxpayers Association (NTA) has urged the government to adopt a more equitable approach to revenue collection and utilization. NTA National Coordinator Ms Irene Otieno emphasized the importance of involving taxpayers in decision-making processes to ensure transparency and accountability. While acknowledging the government’s efforts to increase revenue, Irene highlighted the need for fairness and efficiency in both taxation and expenditure.
“We have been looking at the tax raising measures that the government has been developing. Our concern is where the voice of the citizens is in our tax raising endeavors. As a country we need to raise domestic resources to finance and provide essential services but we need to look into how we are raising this revenue as well as how we can redistribute this revenue.”
According to the World Health Organization,30-50% of cancers can be reduced through early detection including screening. Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in Kenya, accounting for an estimated 3,211 deaths annually. In addition, breast cancer accounts for 23% of all cancer cases among women in Kenya.
Article 43 of the constitution guarantees the right to the highest attainable standard of health including reproductive healthcare. However, according to the National Policy on Gender and Development 2019, inequality, inaccessibility, unacceptability, and unaffordability of quality health services are the main barriers to the achievement of the highest attainable standard of health for women in Kenya.
Kenya’s healthcare system continues to grapple with the issue of gender inequality, which disproportionately affects low and middle income women who experience financial barriers to cancer screening in a health facility.
