Kenya on the right track in the provision of health care in the country – CS Mutahi Kagwe

By Shiphrah Njeri

Health CS Sen. Mutahi Kagwe has praised the strides the health sector has made under the leadership of President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The CS noted the country had over the years witnessed remarkable progress in reducing the burden of disease under President Kenyatta’s leadership.

“It is through President Uhuru’s administration that we have witnessed a lot of firsts in terms of provision of healthcare in the country. Some of these include state-of-theart Centres of Excellence up across the counties,” said the CS at Kenyatta National Hospital.

He made the remarks when he accompanied President Kenyatta during the launch of the Zarina Merali Daycare Centre, the Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics Laboratory as well as the Centre for Kidney Diseases & Organ Transplantation at the Hospital.

The Zarina Merali Daycare Centre will facilitate outpatient surgeries or same-day surgeries for patients. These are surgeries that do not require hospitalization before and after an operation, meaning patients who undergo some surgical procedures will be allowed to recuperate at home after an operation.

The Centre for Kidney Disease and Organ Transplant, on the other hand, is a specialized facility for kidney and liver transplants and the management of complicated kidney diseases.

The Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics Laboratory is a state-of-the-art laboratory for histocompatibility and genetic testing for solid organ and bone marrow transplantation.

The lab is the first of its kind in East Africa and will greatly support organ and tissue transplants by testing the donor and recipient matching locally.

“KNH has become one of the cleanest hospitals and a place where patients receive specialized quality health care services.” .. CS. Mutahi Kagwe

The CS hailed the work done by philanthropists in supporting the putting up of infrastructure critical to the provision of healthcare in the country, singling out the late Naushad Merali family that donated Sh100 million towards the construction of the Daycare Centre.

He called on other philanthropists to follow this example.

“This milestone is our work as well as the philanthropists such as the Merali family who have been of great support. We hope other people too can come forward to create such facilities to serve Kenyans,” he added.

CS. Kagwe also recalled how KNH used to be criticized in the past and the Hospital is today not the same but greatly improved.

“KNH has become one of the cleanest hospitals and a place where patients receive specialized quality health care services. It has transitioned, and as health care workers, we are proud to be associated with it. We pledge to continue with the legacy,” he concluded as he thanked the health care workers for supporting the Big 4 Agenda of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

PHOTO | NICHOLAS WAMALWA

CS, Sen. Mutahi Kagwe giving his speech during the launch