Hospitals in Kenya offer best health services. The Doctors are extremely committed in giving the best treatment to the patients. The hospitals have reliable staffs that are ready to assist 24 hours; most hospitals are well equipped with the appropriate medicine and tools for treating the patients.

P.C.E.A Kikuyu Hospital

It is owned by a church called Presbyterian Church of East; the hospital stands to be patients’ best choice due to their perfection in their services. Call +254 020-2044766 or email: [email protected]

Aga Khan Hospital Mombasa branch

It started its operations in the year 1944, the Aga Khan Hospital; it is part of the Aga Khan main hospital in Nairobi. The hospital has 96-beds for special health care. The hospital offers general diagnosis and treatment, it has specialized staff and modern treatment facilities. Call: +254 41 222 7710 – 5

The Nairobi Hospital

The hospital has made their services reliable and has opened a new branch in Gigiri Outpatient Center at Gigiri next to The United States Embassy in The Warwick Centre along UN Avenue, They offer 24 hour services in areas of Accident and Emergency, Pediatrics, Radiology and Imaging diagnosis through X-ray ,CT, Ultrasound. The Hospital is located in Argwings Kodhek road, Nairobi, Kenya. Call: +254 (0)20 2845000

The Mater Hospital

The hospital has an annual event of ‘The Mater heart run’ it is rated as the Best Social Marketing Award by Marketing Society of Kenya (MSK). The hospital treats various diseases and they have an Accident and Emergency section. The staff is well trained and they are extremely good in their service delivery.

Kijabe Mission Hospital

It is known for its quality and holistic services in Kenya and outside Kenya. The hospital has various specialists in different departments; it is well equipped with modern facilities and reliable medicine. Email: [email protected], Telephone: +254 020 32 46500

Kenyatta National Hospital

It is under the ministry of health, it has fifty wards, twenty two out-patient hospitals, twenty four theaters with sixteen of them specializing in Accident and Emergency Department. The total bed capacity is 1800 and 209 of them are for the Private wing. The hospital is located in Hospital Road Nairobi. Contact: +254 (0)20 27 26 450.

Gertrude Gardens Children Hospital The hospital offers pediatric treatment and care; it provides any treatment a child might need, the hospital has won many awards in relation to their service. Call: +254 (0) 20 37 63474. The hospital is located along Muthaiga Road Nairobi, Kenya.

Moi Teaching and referral Hospital

Has grown and developed over the last 91 years from a local Cottage hospital to a National Hospital. It is located in Western region which is a rural area in Eldoret town, Uasin Gishu,in Uasin Gishu which is the North of Rift Valley province, Nandi road, eastern part of Eldoret town.

Call: +2545333471

Nairobi Womens Hospital

The hospital is located in Hurligham Medicare Plaza, along Arwings Kodhek Road Nairobi. It is well known in East Africa as center of diagnostic and treatment of various ailments and diseases, the staff is excellent in their services, courteous, caring and helpful. The hospital values the patient’s privacy. Call: +254 (0)20 2726821

Aga Khan University Hospital

The hospital is comprehensive located in 3rd Parklands Avenue, the hospital has many casualty departments; it has enough doctors who are specialists in different fields of medicine. The hospital has earned a reputation of the leading health center due to dedicated nurses and doctors, modern diagnosis and treatment equipment’s, the technology, quality commitment and an additional role of training more medical experts.

 

In Kenya, those in the formal employment are well aware of the National Health Insurance Fund in Kenya. This is because the Kenyans in the formal employment have a compulsory NHIF membership in Kenya. Insurance enables thousands of Kenyans to access medical services in a timely manner and without worrying about the costs. Unfortunately, those in informal employment in Kenya are often disregarded when it comes to medical insurance in Kenya. Fortunately, the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) in Kenya has a provision to cater for individuals who are self employed or those who are in the informal sector in Kenya. This means that every Kenyan should have medical insurance cover.

How does NHIF work in Kenya?

Voluntary members of National Health Insurance Fund in Kenya, that is those in the informal sector, are required to make payments to the fund. The payments to NHIF in Kenya are made once a month to the tune of Kshs160. This monthly contribution to NHIF in Kenya brings the yearly contribution at Kshs1,920 of each member. Kenyans under the NHIF fund are issued with NHIF membership card that comes in handy when they visit the hospital covered by the NHIF insurance in Kenya. In case you are admitted to a hospital as a member of NHIF in Kenya, medical services are accorded to you and the doctors attend to you until the day you leave the hospital. The hospital in Kenya is responsible for making a claim to the NHIF in order to be reimbursed.

There are over 400 accredited government facilities in Kenya. This means that chances are very high that the hospital you visit allows use of NHIF payment in Kenya. There are also some mission health providers and various private health providers that partner with NHIF in Kenya to ensure that you are well taken care of health wise. In addition, Kenyans who go for in-patient service at private hospitals in Kenya, have the option of sharing the cost with the NHIF fund. One thing that makes NHIF stand out is that it does not discriminate when it comes to diseases. All diseases in Kenya are catered for by the National Health Insurance Fund. Patients under the NHIF fund in Kenya have packages covering comprehensive maternity and caesarean, dialysis at hospitals such as Kenyatta National Hospital in Kenya and even family planning services such as vasectomy and Tubal Ligation. Kenyatta National Hospital allows use of NHIF card by Kenyans and is located in Upper Hill in Nairobi, near Equity Centre.

Kenyans can register for NHIF as members or as employers. Members fill the Members form and organizations fill the Employees form in Kenya. The NHIF submits claims by hospitals in Kenya once the member has been discharged from hospital. This means that contributors do not have to worry unnecessarily about funds as the NHIF fund takes care of it for them. It also means that cases of stranded patients with NHIF cards in Kenya, which is a somewhat ordinary occurrence in some hospitals, will not occur.

It is especially important for workers in the informal sector in Kenya to get insurance cover with National Health Insurance Fund. Kenyans who are self employed will appreciate the fact that their earnings come from the work they do daily. When they fall sick, their work suffers and so does their income. This makes insurance coverage in Kenya all the more important. One need not make physical payments at NHIF branches in Kenya. There is the option for paying NHIF online in Kenya and you can learn more by visiting the NHIf website on nhif.or.ke nhif.or.ke/healthinsurance However, NHIF offices in Nairobi are located in Upper Hill, along Ragati Road where NHIF Headquarters is located. There are other NHIF offices in Nairobi in Buruburu along Mumias South Road and another NHIF branch in Kenyatta Hospital Estate in Nairobi. Yes, by becoming a member of the NHIF, you can be assured that your medical bills in Kenya will be taken care of whether you are in formal employment or you are in the informal sector in Kenya.

 

Cancer has being a killer disease in recent time because of the lives of people it has claimed. In Kenya, there are many people who are suffering from cancer and because they cannot afford treatment, majority die while others are managed with palliative care in the hospital setup while others are taken hospices for continue management of relieving pain.

The treatment of cancer has become a challenge to the government of Kenya because the government cannot be able to purchase the machines required for cancer treatment. The drugs used to treatment cancer are also expensive and many people cannot be able to raise those cash money required to buy such drugs. There are three main modalities used for management of cancer and they include:

• Surgery.
• Chemotherapy.
• Radiotherapy.

In an effort of fighting cancer in Kenya, Aga Khan Hospital in Kenya has launched a new facility for chemotherapy in Mombasa County. This means that, the people from coastal region (especially from Mombasa County) can now easily access the services (treatment of cancer). This facility is placed in Aga Khan hospital in Mombasa town and was launched on May 28, 2014 in the presence of the governor of Mombasa county; Hassan Joho who welcomed the idea and thanked the hospital.

The new chemotherapy facility in Mombasa Aga Khan will offer all the services (medication, nutrition therapy, and counselling therapy and consultancy services) for cancer patient for an affordable fee of Kshs.15, 000. They will refer cancer patient to Nairobi Aga Khan Hospital in case of any complication or if it is necessary.

The government of Mombasa has promised to dedicate Kshs.1.2 billion to health sector for management of cancer and training of health care providers but mainly concentrating on oncologist because there are a few of them in Kenya.

Some people may wonder what is chemotherapy and radiotherapy because they have heard of surgery and even some of them went through it. Chemotherapy simply means use of drugs to treat cancer while radiotherapy is the use of radiations to treat cancer.

Since a new centre has been open in Mombasa, it is now upon the residents of Mombasa County and its surrounding to make maximum use of this centre by going for frequent medical checkups and for further advice on ways of preventing cancer disease.

Lack of adequate medical technicians

The country has continued to suffer from the constant ability to produce good experts that can handle various medical problems. Kenyan doctors lack specialized skills and those that show high competence end up being taken to the western countries to cater for their needs. The government is failing in addressing the needs of its doctors as seen in the many number of strikes showing that the field of medicine is flooded with problems.

Poor Training Centers

The country has very little centers that can be used to encourage the growth of stable hospitals. Most medical students have poor laboratory equipments in the places they study making them suffer from adequate training and eventually ending up losing a lot of information. The government should look for ways of importing medical facilities that can be used to train more competent doctors.

Lack of Enough Capital

The medical department lacks enough funds that can be used to sustain the needs of its citizens. It has come to the realization that many hospitals have patients sharing beds and often lack basic facilities such as medicine and sanitary tools. It is therefore of basic necessity for the government to take the issue and call for foreign help through the help of sponsors.

Corruption

The Kenyan medical field is filled with a lot of corrupt activities in it. Majority of departmental heads are self centered and often use the funds meant to help patients for their own personal benefits. Most doctors will end up opening their own pharmacy centers and that makes them continue benefiting from the national funds that are strictly meant for the medical tacticians.

Poor Disaster management techniques

Many hospitals in Kenya have experts that lack the basic skills on how to respond to the various public disasters such as accidents, earthquakes and floods. The ambulance services found in the places are poor and most patients die before reaching the respective hospitals.

 

Lodwar is the current headquarters of Turkana County. Since it is centrally placed many people tend to travel to this town for many services of which health care is one of them. Because it is the only hospital in the entire county that has better health care facilities, it therefore serves referrals from other hospital facilities as a referral hospital.

Lodwar county referral hospital was formerly known as Lodwar district hospital and is located in Lodwar town along Lodwar – Lokichoggio highway. It has a bed capacity of 270 and 36 cots.

The services offered at Lodwar county referral hospital includes:

• Curative in – patient services.

• Curative out – patients.

• Maternal and child health services.

• Antiretroviral therapy.

• HIV testing and counselling.

• Pharmaceutical services (pharmacy).

• Laboratory services.

• X – Ray services.

There are wards for men and women so as to cater for all the patients admitted to the hospitals for further management or close observations. There is also a theater for surgical procedures to take care of those who are admitted because of surgical implications and are then managed further after surgery.

Out – patient are those patients who come with minor illness which are then treated and patients are allowed to go back home because those illness are not complicated.

This hospital takes care of mothers and children in a unit known as MCH (maternal and child health) where there is antenatal clinics for pregnant women, family planning clinic for postnatal mothers and immunization unit for children under the age of five years.

The comprehensive care centre (CCC) and visit centre takes care for those clients who come to this hospital for HIV testing and counselling. Those clients who diagnosed with HIV/AIDS are then put under antiretroviral therapy and continue with other management.

The x – ray department deals with general body x – rays and ultra sound and other services such as laboratory tests are also carried out within the hospital to assist in making diagnosis of various diseases. The pharmacy department is the one supplying medications to the entire hospital fraternity and also out- patients who buy their drugs on their way home.

Lodwar county referral hospital can be contacted through:

Lodwar county referral hospital,

P.O. Box 18 – 30500, Lodwar, Kenya.

Telephone number: 054 21073 or 054 21077

Cell phone: 0711221164

How School Health Programmes are Organized in Kenya

In Kenya, it is the responsibility as a community health nurse or any other health provider to design school health programmes. In order to organise a practical school health programme they need to involve the rest of the health team members, the school administration and the community. Sometimes the health professionals can decide to conduct a health program in a certain school and they begin by contacting the school management team to request for permission and, if accepted then, they conduct the programme.

Who are members of school health committees?

The following are members of the school health team:

• Teachers
• Pupils and students
• Parents
• Community formal and informal leaders
• Community health nurse

To organise a good school health programme in any school in Kenya, the health care provider who can be a Nurse has to assess the problems of school children, establish practical goals for the school population, carry out the needed activities and evaluate the process and results of the programs. The whole idea behind a school health programme is to ensure that the needs of the school child are met. After doing the above procedure, the community health nurse will then organize the program for the school in collaboration with the other health care providers in Kenya.

What are the needs of the school child?

The following are the needs of the school child who attend school in Kenya either in the private or Government school. Those needs include:

1. A Stable Home

The home should provide basic needs especially shelter and security.

2. Proper Nutrition

The child needs to grow well physically and mentally. It is therefore important for the child to take adequate nutrition at least three times a day. The diet should have extra proteins and vitamins to meet there nutritional needs. This will help the child to cope with demands of school life. The meals may be provided at home, school, or may be packed.

3. Freedom from Fatigue

The child needs to have enough rest at home from school activities. The evening meal should be taken early so that the child will have enough sleep and rest.

 4. Clothing

This is normally provided as school uniform, which should be clean and tidy. The child needs to wear shoes to prevent injuries and hookworm infestation

5. Good Sight, Hearing and Speech

Defects of sight, hearing and speech interfere with the learning process of a child. Early detection of all disabilities and referral to the appropriate specialist is a very important activity of a school health programme.

6. Freedom from Infection

All school children should be immunised against childhood diseases. Treatment of common conditions, for example colds, skin rashes, sore throat and cuts should also be given. The treatment could take place in the school clinic or in the local health care facility. 7. Pure and Safe Water

This should be provided in the school and at home to prevent water related diseases. Adequate sanitation, proper excreta and refuse disposal is important at home and in school.

8. Clean Buildings

The home and school environment should be kept clean to prevent the child from contracting the diseases.

 

Acacia Medical Centre in Nairobi ………………. 2711611

Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi …………………… 3740000

Avenue Hospital in Nairobi ……………………… 2337868

Getrudes Children`s Hospital in Nairobi ………. 7206000

Guru Nanak Hospital in Nairobi ………………… 2392515

Hurlingham Medicare Plaza in Nairobi ………… 2729400

Karen Hospital in Nairobi ………………………… 6613000

Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi ………….. 2726300

Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Nairobi ………… 6903000

Metropolitan Hospital in Nairobi …………………. 2020263

Nairobi Womens Hospital in Nairobi …………….. 2726821/4/6

MP Shah Hospital in Nairobi ………………………. 3742763

Upper Hill Medical Centre in Nairobi ……………… 2721580

The following drugs and medications are in some way related to, or used in the treatment of Malaria Prevention. Antimalarial medications are designed to prevent or cure malaria. Such drugs may be used for some or all of the following:

• Treatment of malaria in individuals with suspected or confirmed infection
• Prevention of infection in individuals visiting a malaria-endemic region who have no immunity (malaria prophylaxis)
• Routine intermittent treatment of certain groups in endemic regions.

The most common antimalarial drugs are;

• Quinine and related agents
• Chloroquine
• Amodiaquine
• Pyrimethamine
• Proguanil
• Sulphonamides
• Mefloquine
• Atovaquone
• Primaquine
• Artemisinin & Derivatives
• Halofantrine
• Doxycycline
• Clindamycin

However, the first line drug for malaria in Kenya is artemisinin and its derivatives. Artemisinin is a chines herb which has a rapid action and the vast majority of acute infection show significant recovery within a shorter period of time.

Artemether is a methyl ether derivative of dihydroartemesinin. It is similar to artemesinin in mode of action but demonstrates a reduced ability as a hypnozoiticidal compound, instead acting more significantly to decrease gametocyte carriage. Similar restrictions are in place, as with artemesinin, to prevent the development of resistance, therefore it is only used in combination therapy for severe acute cases of drug-resistant P. falciparum. It should be administered in a 7 day course with 4 mg/kg given per day for 3 days, followed by 1.6 mg/kg for 3 days. Side effects of the drug are few but include potential neurotoxicity developing if high doses are given.

Artesunate is a hemisuccinate derivative of the active metabolite dihydroartemesinin. Currently it is the most frequently used of all the artemisinin-type drugs. Its only effect is mediated through a reduction in the gametocyte transmission. It is used in combination therapy and is effective in cases of uncomplicated P. falciparum. The dosage recommended by the WHO is a 5 or 7 day course (depending on the predicted adherence level) of 4 mg/kg for 3 days (usually given in combination with mefloquine) followed by 2 mg/kg for the remaining 2 or 4 days. In large studies carried out on over 10,000 patients in Thailand no adverse effects have been shown.

Finally, malaria prevention is important as the saying goes, prevention is better than cure.

National Hospital Insurance Fund is a national medical plan which covers medical expenses to citizens. National Hospital insurance is a government insurance agency; it targets all the population in Kenya. Registration is open during working hours in NHIF building Nairobi 3rd to 10th floor, National hospital insurance building is located along Ragati road in upperhill area of Nairobi. Board a bus from Kencom in Nairobi town.

Membership is compulsory according to Kenyan law, all the salaried people are required to contribute where the member is expected to contribute monthly a monthly, automatic salary deductions, minimum contribution is twenty Kenyan shillings and maximum contribution is three hundred and twenty. The premium is fixed for self employed people and it is one hundred and sixty Kenyan shillings.

The fund contributed is governed by board of directors with representatives from civil society. The board of directors has to hold meetings to ensure that the flow of the service is efficient to all members and the budget is revised annually. The board of directors has to plan, manage and control national budget.

The insurance covers inpatient expenses with the specific contracted hospitals; National hospital insurance fund has contracted with over six hundred and fifty hospitals both public and private hospitals. Different hospitals have different reimbursement rate according to negotiation and agreement with National hospital insurance fund.

Compared to other insurance agencies National hospital insurance fund offers the best insurance package which is affordable to all the Kenyan citizens. Members will be required to produce identification documents and the insurance card number in the respective hospitals. The medical expenses will then be paid or refunded to the member.  

Low income earners in Kenya can comfortably pay their monthly contribution, high unexpected costs will be covered in health insurance and expenses like screening, and prescription of drugs all paid for in National hospital insurance fund in Nairobi. Average hospital stay will be covered also.

The cost of health services in Kenya is increasing at a higher rate and becoming a discriminative service whereby only those who can afford it can access it. It the high time to those who have not taken insurance covers to register as soon as possible with National hospital insurance fund in upper hill Ragati road.

NHIF offices in Kenya

National hospital insurance fund (NHIF) has several branches; in Industrial Area in Devcon Building, Westlands in Bandari plaza, Kiambu in Mapa house, Limuru in Njengi plaza, Nanyuki it is found in Laipha house, Nyeri it is in Lwale building, Thika in Nellion plaza. In coast province National Hospital insurance fund office is located in Malindi Barani plaza, Mombasa NSSF building, Ukunda Ali Mubarak house.

In Eastern province National hospital insurance fund office is located in Embu Eastern Emporium Building, Machakos in KCB building, Meru NHIF building. In North Eastern province NHIF office is located in Garissa North Eastern site building. In Nyanza province it is located in Homa Bay Sonyaco Plaza, Kisii in Ouru gardens, Kisumu in Kisumu Reinsurance plaza, Migori in Migori Kimainga Annex.

Rift valley in Eldoret KVDA plaza, Kabarnet in Kabarnet town hall, Kericho in Kericho Koineei plaza, Nakuru AFC building, Nandi in Nandi hills plaza.

In western province National Hospital Insurance fund is located in kakamenga Ambwere towers, Kitale teachers sacco, Mumias bermak House.

National Hospital Insurance Fund offers a world class Health Insurance Scheme.

 

 

A rape incidence can be both torturous and draining to the victim. Most victims of this vice are women just like in many other countries. Very few cases are reported of males having been raped. Either way, the feeling and the aftermath of the vise are relatively the same in both sexes. Without proper and just in time attendance, the victim may have more than just the bad memories of the ordeal to worry about.

In Kenya, rape cases victims are advised to go to the hospital immediately after the ordeal. This step ensures that they get tested of infections that could have been transmitted to them by the rapist during the ordeal. Rarely do the rapists use any protection to instigate their ill motives. The main focus of this article is the HIV/AIDS infection.

If found infected with HIV/AIDS and if the doctors are able to test the early enough, the victim may be saved from the agony of having to live with HIV/AIDS. This is achieved by placing the patient under an anti-HIV treatment known as post-exposure-prophylaxis (PEP). The treatment does the better job of eliminating the infection before it spreads in the entire body.

Victims are urged to visit any public hospital within seventy two hours after the ordeal. Seventy two hours is the time lapse within which the HIV/AIDS virus can be completely eliminated. Otherwise, the patient has to be placed under an antiretroviral medication since the virus is now fully spread in the entire body.

The main challenge however is that only seventy three public hospitals offer the post-exposure-prophylaxis drugs free of charge. This leaves a large number of people who live in the rural areas or places without the reach of such drugs vulnerable of remaining with the infection. It is therefore important to enquire if the hospital that the victim is going to be attended has those drugs.