Five people are diagnosed with cancer every hour in Kenya, according to data shared by the National Cancer Institute of Kenya during a field visit to the Empower Clinics at Mbagathi County Hospital in Nairobi as part of the Roche Africa Press Day 2026.

Emily Dasito, who heads Strategy Planning Partnerships and Resource Mobilisation at the institute, said the country records about 44,726 new cancer cases every year, with a mortality figure of 29,376.

“When you translate these to days, we are talking about every single day, 122 people getting cancer diagnoses in this country. Every hour, we have five people getting a cancer diagnosis," she said.

Emily Dasito, Head, Strategy Planning, Partnerships and Resource Mobilisation, National Cancer Institute of Kenya

She added that the scale of the problem is reflected in mortality figures, which show that 80 people die from cancer daily in the country, which translates into three deaths every hour.

According to Dasito, many patients in Kenya are diagnosed at late stages of the disease, which limits treatment options and worsens outcomes.

“The majority of cancer diagnoses in our country are actually late-stage diseases. If we could catch this disease at stage zero or stage one, we would have more options for intervention and better health outcomes,” she explained.

Dasito said digital systems linked to the Empower platform are helping the country improve screening data tracking and patient navigation across the healthcare system.

Through the integration of the digital platform with the national cancer registry, health authorities are now able to see screening and diagnosis data in real time, which helps guide planning, policy formulation and targeted interventions.

The Empower initiative is a multi-stakeholder programme developed through collaboration among Roche, the National Cancer Institute of Kenya, county governments and health partners to improve early detection and access to care for breast and cervical cancer.

The initiative was created after health sector partners identified major gaps in the cancer care pathway, including delays in diagnosis, fragmented referral systems and limited access to services outside major cities.

Initially implemented through physical Empower Clinics embedded within public hospitals, the programme integrates cancer screening into existing services such as maternal and child health clinics and links community awareness campaigns to facility-based diagnostics and treatment.

Health partners later expanded the initiative to include a digital platform that allows health workers to track patients from screening through diagnosis and treatment while generating national-level data to support planning and policy decisions.

She said the system also helps ensure that patients do not get lost within the healthcare system after screening.

“Through Empower, we can visualise cases and patients are navigated right from screening to diagnosis and then linkage to care. That is very key for better health outcomes,” she noted.

Dr Matiko Riro, Chief Executive Officer of Savannah Global Health Institute, said digital health tools are critical to strengthening cancer care, especially for vulnerable populations who often struggle to navigate complex health systems.

According to him, the goal is to use simple technologies, including mobile phones, to help patients move more easily through the healthcare pathway from screening to diagnosis and treatment.

“What we are trying to build are simple tools that help patients navigate the ecosystem. If we catch them earlier and help them access care quickly, the chances of survival improve significantly,” he said.

Head of the Non-Communicable Diseases Division, Department of Preventive and Promotive Health, Dr Victor Kibe, who also spoke during the discussion, said the county has invested in screening capacity and equipment across primary health facilities, including colposcopy machines, cryotherapy equipment and HPV vaccination programmes for young girls.

He added that more than 500 healthcare workers have been trained in screening for breast and cervical cancer as part of efforts to expand early detection.

Jacqueline Wambua of Roche said the Empower initiative was created to address gaps in the cancer care pathway after the company realised that many patients struggled to access diagnosis and treatment despite the availability of medical innovations.

She explained that research showed that some patients consult between eight and ten healthcare providers before finally receiving a diagnosis, which significantly delays treatment.

“The patient journey does not start at treatment. Patients face many barriers along the pathway and that is why partnerships were necessary to understand the gaps and create solutions that work at the community level,” she said.

The Empower model integrates screening into existing health services such as maternal and child health clinics while linking community services to hospital-based care.

Stakeholders say combining digital platforms with community-level screening could significantly improve early diagnosis and reduce cancer-related deaths in Kenya if scaled nationwide.