Table 3 Summary of Kenya’s cancer sector stakeholders, their roles and levels of influence
From: A review of Kenya’s cancer policies to improve access to cancer testing and treatment in the country
Stakeholder | National and county government (public sector) | Non-governmental organisations (civil society) | Private sector | Academic and research institutions | Media | International groups |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Entity | GOK through the MoH, NCI county-level cancer prevention and control groups | Examples include KENCO, Women4Cancer, Hope Beyond Cancer, Childhood Cancer Initiative, and others | Pharmaceutical and insurance companies | Kenya Medical Research Institute, AMREF, University Hospitals in Kenya | Local TV stations Kenyan newspapers Kenyan Public health journals | WHO/International Agency on Research on Cancer American Cancer Society AMPATH |
Role | Creates policies, rules and regulations, enforces implementation, allocates resources to implement policies | Inform policy through patient advocacy, facilitate access to information for cancer patients, raise public awareness about cancer, prevention and treatment options | Influence policy, rules and regulations, and cancer service delivery | Communicate to and on behalf of the public and policy-makers, raise awareness about the availability of cancer diagnostic and treatment services Inform policy through research, implementation evaluation to promote evidence-based policies | Inform and educate the public about cancer, national policies and mobilise groups for action | Inform policy through financial and technical resources and research |
Level of Influence | High, GOK and MoH have the power to authorise, implement, finance or reject policies | High, Representing civil society, these groups engage with policy-makers, provide compelling information on cancer to policy-makers and the public, mobilise communities for cancer screening activities, can disseminate information on treatment locations | High Kenya’s private health and public health services sector’s power to influence implementation in the public and private health facilities | Medium low The cancer research is still developing; research findings need to inform policy development and implementation to a larger extent | Medium high As the main source of information for the public, the media can strongly influence the public’s knowledge of cancer and health-seeking behaviour | Medium Recent technical and financial support by the American Cancer Society and the consortium of universities through AMPATH at MTRH has led to increased screening and treatment for a subset of the patient population |