Cancer patients seeking treatment at Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital (CGTRH) are set to benefit from a new support centre designed to address the emotional, physical and practical challenges that often accompany a cancer diagnosis.
The Ksh 63 million Faraja Cancer Therapy Centre is being constructed at CGTRH, the only public hospital offering oncology services in the Coast region.
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Unlike a conventional treatment facility, the two-storey centre will focus on the wider needs of patients and their families.
It will include counselling rooms for children and individual patients, family therapy rooms and other spaces aimed at supporting patients and caregivers throughout treatment.
The project comes as the hospital continues to face a heavy demand for cancer services, treating more than 3,000 oncology patients every month.
More than treatment
The new centre is expected to ease pressure on existing services by creating additional space for counselling and other forms of support.
Celestine Munda, a trustee at the M-Pesa Foundation, said the investment was intended to improve access to care by addressing some of the barriers patients face when seeking treatment.
“Our investment in infrastructure looks to address the delays of reaching, seeking and receiving health care,” she said.
The additional space could also help reduce waiting times at the busy referral hospital.
For cancer patients, however, the need often extends beyond medical procedures and medication.
“Cancer affects the whole person,” said Shaira Adamali, the founding trustee of Faraja Cancer Support Trust, which has supported cancer patients in Nairobi for the past 16 years.
The organization provides counselling, nutritional guidance, physical therapy and financial assistance to patients who struggle to meet the costs associated with treatment.
The Coast centre will bring similar support services closer to patients in the region, reducing the need for some to travel long distances in search of specialised care.
Responding to a growing cancer burden
Cancer remains a major health challenge in Kenya, with an estimated 48,000 new cases diagnosed each year. However, only about one in five patients is estimated to receive comprehensive cancer care, leaving many to navigate treatment with limited access to the support services they need.
The Faraja Cancer Therapy Centre is intended to help close part of that gap by placing counselling, therapy and other patient support services within a public referral hospital that already handles a large number of cancer cases.
The project also highlights a growing shift in how counties and health partners are responding to cancer, with greater attention being paid not only to diagnosis and treatment but also to the wider wellbeing of patients and their families.
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Wider health investment in Mombasa
The cancer support centre is part of a wider investment in Mombasa County’s health facilities.
The M-Pesa Foundation has invested Ksh 208 million in health projects across the county, including improvements at Likoni Sub-County Hospital, Mbungoni Health Centre, CGTRH and Railways Dispensary.
For patients at the Coast, the new centre could mean that cancer care becomes about more than surviving the disease.
It could also provide a place where patients and their families receive the emotional and practical support needed to cope with one of the most difficult experiences of their lives.
However, only about one in five patients is estimated to receive comprehensive cancer care, leaving many to navigate treatment with limited access to the support services they need.
The Faraja Cancer Therapy Centre is intended to help close part of that gap by placing counselling, therapy and other patient support services within a public referral hospital that already handles a large number of cancer cases.
The project also highlights a growing shift in how counties and health partners are responding to cancer, with greater attention being paid not only to diagnosis and treatment but also to the wider wellbeing of patients and their families.
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