Mater Hospital eyes Sh150m Heart Run target to plug Kenya's pediatric cardiac care gap

Mater Misericordiae Hospital is gearing up for its 2026 Heart Run, set for May 23, with a fundraising target of Sh150 million. The annual event has become a lifeline for children suffering from cardiac conditions across Kenya, and this year's edition is poised to be the most ambitious yet as the hospital works to close a widening gap in pediatric heart care.

Money raised will be directed towards three priority areas: funding heart surgeries for children with cardiac conditions, running medical outreach camps designed to catch heart problems at an early stage, and sponsoring the training of specialist doctors to grow Kenya's homegrown cardiac expertise. Hospital officials say all three pillars are equally important to building a system that can sustain itself rather than depending indefinitely on donor goodwill.

The human cost behind the fundraiser is difficult to ignore. Approximately 450 children are currently queued and waiting for heart procedures at Mater alone. CEO Mary Ngui acknowledged that tough economic times have squeezed many Kenyan households but called on communities not to step back. "Every coin adds to what we need," she said, stressing that even small individual contributions add up to something significant.

Yet Director Kevin Rombosi was frank that hitting the Sh150 million target, ambitious as it is, will not be enough to resolve the crisis entirely. Globally, some 5,000 children require cardiac interventions each year, but Kenyan facilities — taken together — are only equipped to handle around a quarter of the cases needing attention locally. The shortfall underlines just how much ground the country still has to cover in building its cardiac care infrastructure.

Mater's cardiac programme has been at this work for decades. Since its founding in 1985, the hospital has treated more than 6,283 children through a range of surgical procedures. Last year was the most active in the programme's history, with approximately 500 cases completed — a record that points both to rising demand and to the hospital's growing capacity to respond to it.

This year's Heart Run will span 11 locations simultaneously, with participants taking part in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and nine other counties. Kirinyaga is making its debut as a host site in 2026. Hospital leadership has set its sights further still, with plans to eventually roll the event out to all 47 Kenyan counties and transform what began as a single fundraising run into a nationwide movement.

Kenyans keen to participate can follow Mater Hospital's official channels for registration details ahead of the May 23 event. Whether lacing up in Nairobi or joining the run in any of the other ten counties, every participant and every shilling pledged moves another child a step closer to a healthy heart.