NAIROBI, Kenya – This week, the Africa Cancer Foundation (ACF) celebrated its 15th anniversary by launching its Endowment Campaign, a fundraising initiative to improve long-term cancer prevention, screening, early detection, patient support, and advocacy throughout Kenya.
ACF is a Kenyan charitable trust launched in 2011 to drive cancer awareness, prevention, screening, early detection and advocacy. Over the past 15 years, ACF has screened more than 35,000 women and men for breast, cervical and prostate cancer across 27 counties in Kenya. The Foundation has also supported the establishment of 19 EMPOWER Clinics in 18 counties to expand access to breast and cervical cancer screening.
With the theme “Own Your Cancer Story”, the anniversary brunch at Emara Ole Sereni in Nairobi on Friday, July 10, 2026, brought together leaders, medical professionals, survivors, donors, partners, and health stakeholders.
The group converged with a view to considering the 15-year impact of ACF and rallying support for the Foundation’s Endowment Fund. ACF aimed to raise between KSh 15 million and KSh 30 million for the Fund during the event.
“For 15 years, we have pursued a simple but urgent mission: advocacy that changes systems and service that touches lives. As we mark this milestone under the theme ‘Own Your Cancer Story’, Kenya must invest more in awareness, screening and early detection, because when cancer is found early, lives can be saved and hope can be delivered on time,” said Prof. Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o, ACF Chairperson.
Prof. Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o weighs in on the ACF journey
Speaking from his experience as a prostate cancer survivor, Prof. Nyong’o said ACF was founded to ensure that more Kenyans, especially those without easy access to specialists, information or funds, are not left to face cancer alone.
Prof. Nyong’o, who also serves as the Kisumu County governor, narrated how, for 15 years, the ACF has been in boardrooms, at policy meetings, in county assemblies, in ministries, and on public platforms, advancing the national conversation on cancer.
Together with many other partners and advocacy organisations, Prof. Nyong’o disclosed that they have helped make cancer impossible to ignore.
“ACF has helped drive the expression of cancer centres across the country. It has helped put screening, treatment, and palliative care firmly on the public agenda. It has helped bring attention and funding to neglected conditions, such as sickle cell disease, which for far too long has lived in the shadows of our health system,” explained Prof. Nyong’o.
He said the Foundation’s work has remained anchored on two pillars: advocacy that changes systems and service that touches lives.
“When we founded this foundation, Kenya was recording about 37,000 new cancer cases a year. Today, that number is closer to 45,000. And in just two years from now, it is projected to rise to nearly 58,000. Many of these would have been found earlier with a very different trajectory. Cancer is no longer a rare disease or something that happens to other people in other countries,” the professor further said.
Inside the ACF’s Clinic on Wheels program
The milestone came at a time when cancer continues to affect thousands of families across the country, underscoring the urgent need for stronger public awareness, timely screening, referral pathways and sustained support for patients and caregivers.
“I repeat, today it stands as living proof that in cancer care, persistence saves lives long before medicine ever does. And perhaps even more importantly, it proved something to Kenya that specialised oncology services did not have to remain concentrated in Nairobi alone. Once that door opened, others followed,” added Prof. Nyong’o.
As part of the anniversary activities, ACF deployed its Clinic on Wheels, a mobile cancer screening unit funded by Tiba Foundation. The unit offered breast and cervical cancer screening for women of reproductive age, prostate cancer screening for men aged 40 and above, HPV testing and ultrasound services, demonstrating ACF’s commitment to bringing screening services closer to communities.
“Early detection changes the course of cancer care. When cancer is found early, treatment is simpler, outcomes are better, and lives are saved. ACF has helped take awareness and screening closer to communities that would otherwise have limited access. Cancer care is a shared responsibility, and stronger partnerships are essential to ensure no Kenyan is left behind because of where they live or what they can afford,” said Dr. Gladwell Kiarie, Consultant Medical Oncologist and President, Kenya Society of Haematology and Oncology.
As an oncologist, Dr. Kiarie revealed that she has witnessed firsthand the differences that early detection makes.
“When cancer is diagnosed early, treatment is simpler. If you have a breast lump that is ductal carcinoma in situ, that’s a precancerous lesion, all we do is operate on the breast. If we do a mastectomy, you don’t need radiation. And sometimes hormonal treatment is enough. No change in your lifestyle, no dipping into your pocket and your life is saved. And therefore, we really, really need to invest in this. And I say that the lives that have been changed are because someone cared enough to act. Professor’s family came together and cared enough to act,” explained Dr. Kiarie.
Cancer care remains a shared responsibility
Dr. Kiarie also used the event to recognise the many volunteers, the healthcare workers, the survivors, the donors, and all the partners who have come to make this journey possible.
“Cancer care is not the work of one institution or one profession. It is a shared responsibility for all of us. Those who have been affected, those who have relatives, those who are caregivers. We also need to lobby to have better terms of treatment for some of these cancer patients. Yet research, auditing outcomes, and documenting some of our findings are very important for industry, for the community, and for being able to treat our patients very specially,” added Dr. Kiarie.
ACF’s work over the past 15 years has focused on both systems-level advocacy and community-level service.
“I have met women who walked in afraid and walked out informed. And in this fight, information is often the difference between life and death. So today, as we mark 15 years, I do not want you to think of this as simply a celebration of what we have already done. I want you to think of it as a down payment on what remains. My friends, this is where each of us has a role to play. And this is why we are here today. Not merely to applaud 15 years of work, but also to fund the next 15. Not merely to applaud 15 years of work, but to fund the next 15,” Prof. Nyong’o added.
The Foundation has worked with partners to promote cancer awareness, support screening initiatives, strengthen referral pathways and reduce stigma, while encouraging patients and families to speak openly about cancer and seek care early.
ACF commitment to build an endowment fund
Through the Endowment Campaign, ACF called on individuals, corporate partners, philanthropists and institutions to invest in a more sustainable cancer response. Funds raised will support community screening, volunteer training, awareness campaigns, patient referral support and services that bring early detection closer to underserved communities.
The 15th anniversary brunch also recognised long-serving volunteers, survivors, staff and strategic partners whose contribution has shaped ACF’s journey. Among the recognitions was the Strategic Partner of the Year Award to Tiba Foundation for its support, including funding the Clinic on Wheels truck and ultrasound machine.
Beyond the celebrations, Prof. Nyong’o disclosed that the foundation is also building something longer-term.
“An endowment fund with a target of 1 million US dollars over the coming years. So that this work no longer depends on any single fundraiser but stands on a permanent foundation of its own,” Prof. Nyong’o revealed to the audience.
As ACF enters its next phase, Prof. Nyong’o reaffirmed its commitment to building a future where cancer is detected earlier, discussed more openly and addressed through stronger partnerships between communities, healthcare providers, governments, donors and the private sector.
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