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Kenyatta National Hospital: On the Brink of Change |
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The Kenyatta National Hospital, one of the largest referral institutions in the East Africa region, is on the verge of transforming itself into a self-sustaining, profit-making outfit.Acting Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Charles Kabetu outlines a raft of measures the hospital’s top organ, the Board of Management, has recommended and started implementing to achieve the long cherished and desired goals.This will be a major brake from the hospital's historical dilemma of being underfunded by the government, yet still remaining the largest referral hospital in the country and region, catering for some 500,000 outpatients annually.
KNH, as it is popularly known, turned a century old in 2001 and boasts a rich history and pedigree, including being the first facility where Siamese twins underwent surgery in 1977 to have them separated, though one of them died shortly after the surgery.DEA photo Editor, Yahya Mohammed recalls the event with a mixture of pride and regret, (one of the twins died) and says the surgery went on from 6.00am to 6.00pm, conducted by a team of neuro, bone, heart, skin and other experts in an epoch-making operastion.
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Kenyatta National Hospital: The Facts |
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Kenyatta National Hospital is the oldest and largest Referral and Teaching hospital in the region. It was built to specifically providing a medical research environment and to serve as a National Referral and Teaching institution. In 1987, Kenyatta became a state corporation with a sitting Board of Management and is currently at the apex of the referral system in the Health Sector in Kenya, and in East Africa.The 110 year-old hospital has a bed capacity of 1800, out of which 206 beds are for the Private Wing. It has 50 wards, 23 theatres (16 specialised), 20 outpatient clinics and an Accident and Emergency Department. There are 46 departments. It has 4,600 round-the-clock staff members and sits on 45.7 hectares of land that also incorporates College of Health Sciences (University of Nairobi), the Kenya Medical Training College, National Laboratory Service (Ministry of Health) and Kenya Medical Research Institute.
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Kenyatta National Hospital - Towards Taming Malaria |
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Malaria, kills up to 2.7 million people per year. With 90 per cent of the victims of the tropical disease reported in Africa, most of these deaths occur on the continent.Kenya and Uganda have the highest number of confirmed cases, says Prof K. M. Bhatt, an infectious and tropical diseases specialist based at the Kenyatta National Hospital, “But we in Kenya are making progress.”
He says malaria is widespread in Kenya with the highest number of cases being reported in the western, coastal and Nyanza parts of the country.Some cases have been reported in Nairobi. Some scientists think this is due to climatic change, but Prof Bhatt attributes it to human migration.She says people come with tropical diseases from upcountry. People go upcountry and return with malaria or bilharzia to Nairobi or the mosquitoes come to the city by train.
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Kenyatta National Hospital Pharmacy - Department Ensuring Safe Drug Use |
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The pharmacy department, which falls under clinical services, is one of the major support areas at KNH. Chief Pharmacist, Dr Godfrey Ombuya, who heads a team of highly trained professionals, manages the area, which was recognised in 2006 as the second best performing department in the hospital. The 80-man pharmacy team also operates a comprehensive care unit for antiretroviral medicines which is unique in the region for its individualised patient booths for counseling on use of HIV/AIDS medicines. However, the department is not without challenges. It spends about Sh 300 million yearly on drug stocks, but the problem of drug resistance raises costs.
Dr Ombuya says drug resistance is a serious challenge.
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Kenyatta National Hospital - Demystifying Cancer |
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Usually, when people learn that they have cancer, they assume the worst, that it is the end of the road for them. This should not be the case.Dr Opiyo Anselmy, who heads the Cancer Treatment Centre at the Kenyatta National Hospital thinks different. “Cancer is feared because of the way it progresses and the long treatment that it requires,” he says.
“Generally, 30 per cent of all cancers are curable,” says the radiation and medical oncology consultant. It all depends on several factors, such as the general physical condition of the patient, the age and the extent to which the disease has manifested itself. Cancer treatment is “vigorous” and sometimes the patient’s physical condition may not be able to handle it and the part affected also matters. However, Dr Opiyo says it entirely depends on the severerity or stages of the disease. There are four stages of cancer progression.
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