Fifteen years ago, Anyang’ Nyong’o walked into a doctor's office expecting answers. Instead, he walked out with a prostate cancer diagnosis that would change not only his life, but also the lives of thousands of Kenyans who have since benefited from the cancer advocacy work it inspired.
The Kisumu Governor shared the emotional reflection on Friday, July 10, 2026, as the Africa Cancer Foundation (ACF) marked its 15th anniversary under the theme, "Own Your Cancer Story." In a statement posted on his official X account, Nyong’o said what began as a deeply personal battle grew into a lifelong commitment to improve cancer care and ensure patients do not face the disease alone.
Looking back on the day he received the diagnosis, Nyong’o said it remains one of the defining moments of his life.
“Fifteen years ago, I sat in a doctor’s office and heard words that would change the trajectory of my life: prostate cancer. It is a moment that strips you bare. It confronts you with your own fragility, with the terrifying silence of mortality,” Nyong’o stated.
But instead of allowing the diagnosis to define him, Nyong’o said he and his wife, Dorothy Nyong’o, chose to turn the painful experience into a mission of giving hope to others battling cancer.
“In that darkness, however, something remarkable happened. Mama Kisumu, Dorothy Nyong’o, and I made a solemn vow not only to survive, but to ensure that no Kenyan, regardless of the weight of their purse or the emptiness of their pockets, would have to walk the cancer journey alone, abandoned and without hope. That vow became the Africa Cancer Foundation,” he stated.
Nyong’o said the foundation has never been solely about creating awareness, but about ensuring patients receive quality care while protecting their dignity throughout treatment.
He said the organisation's work has always been inspired by the experiences of families whose lives have been disrupted by cancer.
“I was reminded with tears in my eyes, of why we began this journey. Our mission is not abstract. It is flesh and blood. It is the mother in Kilifi who cannot afford chemotherapy. It is the young man in Kibra who fears the diagnosis more than the disease itself. It is to restore hope, uphold dignity, and provide quality cancer care to every single one of them,” Nyong’o wrote on X.
Over the last 15 years, he said, the Africa Cancer Foundation and its partners have expanded cancer awareness campaigns, taken screening services to more communities and pushed for policies aimed at improving cancer care across Kenya.
“We have advanced policies that once seemed beyond reach. We have expanded screening and awareness to villages where cancer was once spoken about only in whispers. We have proven, with the stubborn persistence of those who have looked death in the eye, that advocacy transforms systems, while service changes lives.”
Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o (centre) during the Africa Cancer Foundation 15th anniversary celebrations on July 10, 2026. PHOTO/X
As part of the anniversary celebrations, the foundation unveiled a mobile cancer clinic that will take screening services directly to communities through outreach programmes in markets and other public spaces.
Nyong’o said taking screening services closer to the people will help improve early diagnosis, which remains one of the biggest challenges in the fight against cancer.
He also reaffirmed support for the planned Chung Jeong-Eun–Nyong’o Cancer Centre in Kisumu and Kenya's first public bone marrow transplant programme at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital.
Nyong’o has previously revealed that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2010 after a routine medical examination detected elevated Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) levels.
He later underwent successful treatment at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, an experience that inspired him to champion early screening and greater public awareness about cancer.
Following his recovery, Nyong’o and Dorothy Nyong’o established the Africa Cancer Foundation in 2011 to promote cancer prevention, early diagnosis, patient support and policy advocacy in Kenya and across the continent.
According to the foundation, it has since carried out cancer screening and awareness programmes in several counties, trained hundreds of volunteers and continued advocating for improved access to treatment and stronger national cancer policies.