Abstract:
Background: This study explored perspectives of health-care providers on childhood cancer treatment in
Kenya. Materials and Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was completed by 104 health-care providers
in January and February 2013. Results: Seventy six percent of the health-care providers believed cancer to be
curable. More doctors than other health-care providers had this positive opinion (p=0.037). The majority of
health-care providers (92%) believed that most children with cancer will not be able to finish their treatment due
to financial difficulties. They considered that prosperous highly-educated parents adhere better with treatment
(88%) and that doctors adhere better with treatment for prosperous highly-educated parents (79%). According
to 74% of health-care providers, quality of care is better for prosperous highly-educated parents (74%). Most
health-care providers reported giving more explanation (71%), work with greater accuracy (70%) and use less
difficult vocabulary (55%) to prosperous more educated families. Only 34% of health-care providers reported
they feel more empathy towards patients from prosperous families. Reasons for non-adherence with the protocol
according to health-care providers are: family refuses drugs (85%), inadequate supply of drugs at pharmacy
(79%), child looks ill (75%), and financial difficulties of parents (69%). Conclusions: Health-care providers’
health beliefs and attitudes differ for patients with families having high versus low socio-economic backgrounds.
