Kenya’s medical research and university systems are facing fresh criticism after a senior cancer specialist warned that limited funding and slow academic structures are holding back the country’s ability to develop treatments based on local patient needs.
The Principal Research Scientist and oncologist at Victoria Biomedical Research Institute (VIBRI), Dr. Victoria Oria, said Kenya continues to depend heavily on medical studies carried out abroad, even though patients in the country show different genetic patterns and treatment responses that are not fully captured in existing research.
Speaking on Tuesday during an interview on Radio Generation, Dr. Oria said doctors are often forced to rely on treatment approaches developed outside the country, without enough local evidence to guide decisions. He warned that “we are treating our patients blindly” by relying on medicines tested mainly in other populations.
He explained that cancer does not behave in the same way for all patients and can vary depending on genetic background, environment, and population differences. He noted that even the same type of cancer can act differently from one person to another, saying “we could have prostate cancer, but our prostate cancers could be very different” and that the drivers of disease are not always the same.
Dr. Oria said most treatment methods used locally are borrowed from international studies and then applied in Kenya with little adjustment. He said this approach does not always deliver the expected outcomes. “What we do mostly is extrapolation. This is what the West does, let us bring it here. It never really works,” he said.
He pointed to research on triple negative breast cancer, where findings showed Kenyan women had a unique genetic mutation linked to resistance to hormone-based treatment commonly used in hospitals. “We were assuming,” he said, adding that this helped explain why some patients fail to respond to standard therapies.
The oncologist also raised concern about drug reactions, saying some cancer medicines used in Kenya are producing strong side effects due to differences in how local patients metabolise drugs. “There’s a prostate cancer drug here in Kenya which is giving our patients really high toxicities. One of the reasons is because we don’t metabolise it,” he said.
He said such cases show the need for stronger local research before treatments are widely adopted, arguing that medical decisions should be based on data drawn from Kenyan patients.
At VIBRI in Kisumu, Dr. Oria said plans are underway to set up a biobank that will store tumour samples and cancer cell lines from local patients. He said the aim is to allow scientists to better understand how cancers in Kenya behave and respond to treatment. “We want to start from the bottom. First develop the right tools,” he said.
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He added that the system would help researchers investigate why some drugs fail or cause harmful effects, allowing for safer and more accurate treatment options in the future.
Dr. Oria also turned attention to universities, saying many institutions are no longer prioritising research and have drifted away from their core role of innovation. “Our universities are not bastions of research. Research is not given the priority that an institution of the nature of a university should have,” he said.
He criticised the expansion of academic programmes into unrelated fields, saying it weakens scientific focus. “You have technology in your university name, and then I find you offering hospitality, even a degree in law. There’s a problem,” he said.
On postgraduate training, he said students are held back by long administrative delays that stretch study timelines far beyond the expected duration. He said a master’s degree should take two years but often takes longer due to approvals and procedural delays. “A master’s degree should take two years, one year for coursework, one year for the research,” he said, adding that some students end up “running like a mouse” through administrative processes.
He proposed that universities should already have ongoing research projects that students can join instead of starting new work from scratch. “It’s supposed to be the university already having running projects that you can plug into,” he said.
Dr. Oria further urged scientists to engage more with the public, saying research should not remain locked inside laboratories and academic papers. “Research in its essence is a public service. We should do more than being in our labs. We should do more than writing papers,” he said.
He concluded that Kenya already has enough hospital data and skilled professionals to transform healthcare, but only if institutions shift priorities and strengthen local research systems. “That data should be enough to actually inform us,” he said, warning that without reform the country will continue relying on imported solutions for local health challenges.