Kenya to build Sh3.3bn kidney hospital in EAC healthcare plans
Doctors carry out a kidney transplant at at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
The East Africa Kidney Institute to be constructed at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) beginning first quarter of the year is expected to benefit Kenya and its neighbours upon completion.
The centre, which targets post-graduate students from East Africa, will train surgeons (urologists), nephrologists and specialist nurses.
Kenya will next year set up a Sh3.3 billion kidney ailments treatment centre in yet another bid to lock in millions of shillings spent by patients in search of treatment overseas.
The East Africa Kidney Institute to be constructed at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) beginning first quarter of the year is expected to benefit Kenya and its neighbours upon completion.
Apart from offering kidney healthcare, the centre will train surgeons (urologists), nephrologists and specialist nurses. It will target post-graduate students from East Africa.
Dr Antony Were, the deputy director of the proposed institute, said yesterday they are targeting patients with kidney complications from East and Central Africa.
“Besides building our capacity through research and training, we look to tap into the ever growing medical tourism with the centre,” he told the Business Daily in a phone interview.
More Kenyans have been flying out for healthcare, especially in treatment of chronic diseases, citing inadequate capacity in local hospitals.
Dr Were said the 100-patient facility would be equipped with modern kidney treatment machines and well-trained health practitioners.
The biomedical centre of excellence will be jointly coordinated by the hospital, the University of Nairobi and Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) in Nairobi. They both own the land.
It is one of the facilities the African Development Bank is financing in the region to boost capacity.
The Sh8.8 billion ($97) project will see Uganda establish a medical centre for oncology, Tanzania a cardiovascular facility, nutrition centre in Burundi and an e-health centre in Rwanda.
Kenya received Sh2.26 billion ($25 million) on Wednesday from the African Development Bank out of the Sh3.3 billion ($37.5 million) needed.
Dr Were said that a project implementation committee had been set up and comprises officials from the university, KMTC, the hospital, ministries of Health and Education.
He said a formula was being crafted to determine how students would be picked from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. They are also mulling separating the facility from control of Kenyatta National Hospital.
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