Counties boost their fight against complicated illness

Patients in Bomet and Kericho counties will no longer have to travel to Eldoret or Nairobi to access specialised treatment, as the national and county governments implement a raft measures to improve access to healthcare in the two devolved units.

In this regard, Longisa County Referral Hospital in Bomet County will receive Sh150 million from the national government to build and equip a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) centre to offer scans that are crucial for quick diagnosis and treatment.

 In mid-February, Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki added that Longisa would be elevated to a cancer treatment centre, with a chemotherapy machine procured by the national government, to cater for patients in the South Rift and South Nyanza regions.

Ms Kariuki noted that the increasing number of cancer patients in the country was of great concern to the government and that all efforts were being made to reduce the costs of managing the disease, by improving access to healthcare.

“Cancer patients in rural areas do not have to travel to Nairobi for chemotherapy. It is possible to make treatment available in rural facilities to ease the burden for patients and their families,” said Ms Kariuki, adding that the maternity wing at Longisa would also be expanded, equipped and elevated to a Mother and Child Welfare Centre.

The health boss added that there was need to equip and staff rural health facilities so as to decongest referral hospitals and optimise their operations and leave the doctors in such facilities to deal with complicated cases.

She also said that there were plans to redirect resources to key areas like reproductive health, vaccination and treatment of non-communicable diseases in rural health centres.

Bomet County Governor Joyce Laboso said that an influx of patients from the neighbouring Narok, Nakuru, Kericho, Nyamira and Kisii counties had put a strain on medical and non-medical supplies at Longisa County Referral Hospital, since the financial allocation the hospital receives from the national treasury is for one county.

 On her part, Bomet East MP Beatrice Kones asked the government to elevate one health centre to sub-county hospital status, to fill the gap left after the elevation of Longisa to a county referral hospital status.

During a recent visit to Bomet County, Deputy President William Ruto gave Sh2 million towards the upgrade of the maternity wing and other sections of Silibwet Hospital, while pledging to disburse another Sh3 million on a later date.

He said that the Sh50 million pledge meant to equip Koiwa Hospital in Konoin to attend to more patients and treat more diverse conditions would also be reimbursed soon. 

Also to receive a similar amount are Kapkoros and Irwaga hospitals in Bomet Central and Bomet East respectively. The pledges were made during campaigns in the run up to the 2017 General Election.

Mr Ruto also called for the speedy construction of a theatre at Ndanai Hospital to enable fitting of equipment which “is lying idle in a store.”

“Ndanai Hospital theatre equipment is in a store because the building is incomplete, yet citizens are suffering. I want it done as soon as possible so that the equipment can be used,” he said.

In Kericho, where the first open heart surgery was performed recently, the Kericho County Referral Hospital will construct an ophthalmology complex worth Sh500 million, in conjunction with the University of Alexandria in Egypt.

Once in place, specialists at the eye treatment centre are expected to  perform about 200 eye surgeries every week, especially on patients with cataracts. Once the centre is established, the county plans to devolve eye treatment for common problems to sub-county facilities. The partnership will also see nursing, medical and engineering staff from the county getting scholarships to study at the Egyptian university. There will also be an exchange programme for health practitioners from both countries to boost skill transfer.

County eye specialists have the capacity to treat about 200 patients (20 per cent of patients seeking treatment at the two hospitals) who visit Kericho and Kapkatet Sub-County hospital every day, but they are forced to refer patients with damage to the retina due to diabetes and those who need operations to correct squinted eyes, due to lack of specialised equipment.

A fortnight ago, the county marked a milestone as the first-ever cardiac pacemaker implantation procedure was done. During a week-long free medical camp, 20 successful heart surgeries was done in partnership with a team of cardiologists from Michigan State University in the US. The procedure would have cost each of the patients at least Sh500,000 in private hospitals.

The hospital plans to perform the first heart, liver and kidney transplants by September.

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IN THE PIPELINE

Longisa County Referral Hospital in Bomet County will receive Sh150 million from the national government to build and equip a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) centre to offer scans that are crucial for quick diagnosis and treatment.

Kericho County Referral Hospital will construct an ophthalmology complex worth Sh500 million, in conjunction with the University of Alexandria in Egypt.