[Image]In 2016, Joseph Kagiri received a distress call in the wee hours of the night from one of his expectant neighbours who urgently needed maternity services.It was raining heavily as Kagiri drove through the rough terrain of Mugunda ward in Kieni constituency to take the woman to Nyeri County Referral Hospital, which is 50 kilometres away.Unfortunately, the woman underwent a stillbirth due to complications before they arrived at the hospital. “I remember that incident so vividly and it really hit me so hard. The journey was so bumpy and I wish I could have saved the woman’s baby,” Kagiri says.RELATEDMaternal mortality still unchanged despite 10 years of free careHealth Apr 11[Image]Kitengela hospital maternity services overstretched, new mothers share bedsKajiado Feb 12[Image]“That is when I started thinking so hard about how I could help the community to have a maternity facility.”That is when he reached out to the Nyeri government so as to partner with the community and construct an ultramodern maternity facility at Mugunda dispensary, which is owned by the county.Kagiri and his family mobilised resources from well-wishers based in Italy and the United States of America.One of the main financiers – Goal Smile Onlus, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Italy – injected Sh25 million towards constructing and equipping the maternity wing.24-hour basisThe county government provided seven nurses, a clinical officer and a laboratory technician to the facility which is now operating on a 24-hour basis since its launch in December last year.When Nation toured the facility recently, we met Mr Charles Njoroge who had taken his expectant daughter to deliver.Mr Njoroge and his wife had travelled from Naituruchi village in Laikipia East to the dispensary, which is 25km away. “I brought my daughter to deliver her baby in this facility because it has a good reputation for offering quality services to its patients. A good hospital is defined by the quality of services it offers,” he adds.After we left the facility, Mr Njoroge, who was full of joy, called us with the good news that his daughter had delivered a baby boy.Mr Kagiri, who is the country representative of Goal Smile Onlus, said they have equipped the maternity wing with modern equipment including a three-probe ultrasound machine, a phototherapy machine for newborns and other ultramodern equipment used for delivery.The NGO has further constructed and equipped a laboratory wing at the dispensary at a cost of Sh11 million and has served over 435 patients in the past four months.An equipped dental unit was also constructed. “We have the best equipment. We are seeing an influx of patients from the neighbouring Laikipia and Nyandarua counties,” Mr Kagiri says.According to statistics seen by the dispensary’s nurse in-charge Rhoda Minai, the facility recorded 2,061 outpatients, 291 laboratory patients and 102 expectant mothers in the past two months.Goal Smile Onlus Vice President Gian Franco appealed to the government to stop imposing taxes on imported medical equipment.“We are asking the Kenyan government not to impose an import tax on goods which are meant to improve the lives of the local people...We have spent a lot of money on taxation. Why should this happen?” Mr Franco poses.He said the organisation will embark on training medical staff who work in government health facilities in Nyeri on how to address cancer disease. “We have four highly trained Italian specialists willing to come and conduct training to the Nyeri medical staff on the use of colposcopy,” Mr Franco says.In 2020, a group of highly specialised Italian medical specialists trained the local medical staff on all the techniques of colonoscopy to prevent and detect early stages of cancer. BY DAILY NATION
posted by Breaking Kenya news at 13:26 on 21 Apr 2023
"Shot in the arm for mothers as maternity unit unveiled"
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