Cancer patients in western Kenya could soon stop making long trips to Eldoret for treatment after Parliament's Health Committee pledged more money to complete a cancer centre at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) in Kisumu, a project that stalled for nearly a decade.

The committee, led by Kilgoris MP Julius Sunkuli in the absence of chairman James Nyikal, toured the hospital to check how funds already allocated by Parliament had been used. Hospital management told the MPs the centre is now 85 per cent complete after Sh400 million from the National Assembly revived the works.

What is still needed

According to JOOTRH acting chief executive Dr Clinton Okise, the hospital has asked for Sh172 million to finish construction and about Sh1.6 billion to buy equipment for the centre.

  • Construction: 85 per cent complete.
  • Sh400 million already provided by Parliament to restart works.
  • Sh172 million needed to finish the building.
  • About Sh1.6 billion needed for equipment.

Sunkuli said the committee would push for the additional funds in the supplementary budget. "We are the ones who appropriate funds for these facilities and because of that we have the responsibility to oversight the works," he said, according to the Kenya News Agency.

Reports differ on the target date. Sunkuli said he hoped the building would be ready by December, subject to the extra money, while The Star reported that the centre is expected to start operating in January or February 2027.

A region-wide facility

Kisumu Central MP Joshua Oron said the existing oncology unit is badly congested, with close to 60 patients sometimes squeezed into a small room. He said the new centre would serve the entire Lake Region Economic Bloc of about 15 counties, sparing patients from Migori, Homa Bay, Kericho and Kisii the journey to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret.

"Once that cancer centre is ready, it will serve this region, not just Kisumu," Sunkuli said.

Data from the hospital's oncology directorate shows more than 4,500 cancer cases over a decade, with cervical cancer accounting for about 64 per cent of diagnoses, followed by oesophageal, breast, prostate and colorectal cancers.

Staffing gaps after Level Six upgrade

JOOTRH was elevated to a Level Six national referral hospital and is moving from Kisumu County to the national government, a shift that Parliament has backed with about Sh1.9 billion. Oron noted that the hospital still relies on staff seconded by the county and has not hired the numbers its new status requires.

"We have told them that money is not enough," Dr Okise said, adding that MPs had promised more resources for equipment and recruitment. Board chairman Dr Charles Olang'o Onudi said management was optimistic services would improve in the coming months.

Photos: Capital FM; The Star. Thumbnail design: HAMASTA MEDIA.