Mandera county hospital has officially unveiled five haemodialysis machines to help in treating patients suffering from chronic kidney diseases.
County governor Ali Roba while unveiling the machines Wednesday, said the equipment were acquired through collaboration of counties and the national government.
The elated governor said the burden of many residents suffering from kidney failure traveling to Nairobi to seek treatment has been eased by installing the machines at the county hospital.
“We are only charging Sh9,500 and patients are allowed to use NHIF cards to enable the poor access the service, as we seek achieving affordable healthcare for all in line with the government’s big 4 agenda, ” said Roba.
The governor said the county has 12 medical staff to man the renal unit to ensure quality services at the facility.
On his part, the County Executive for Health Dr. Mohamud Eda said the devolved unit is committed to safeguarding health of its people and will continue to improve on medical services in the region.
Dr. Eda said currently the county has 900 health workers up from 130 at the inception of devolution in 2013.
He said they will continue to seek for a long lasting solution to lack of qualified medical staff by training locals in medical field.
Subsequently, he said the county government has sponsored some local youths to train as nurses and doctors, with the first batch of five nurses deployed in the county hospital this month,” said Dr. Eda.
Meanwhile, about 170 dialysis sessions have been carried out, while 18 patients with kidney failure have been treated and discharged since the inception of the dialysis center in February this year.
Dr. Halima Issack who heads renal unit at the county hospital said most of the patients who got treatment had initially been referred to hospitals in Nairobi and other counties, but they came back after the renal unit was established.
Elsewhere, the county has also launched six more ambulances to complement the existing five so as to ferry patients from far flung regions to various health facilities across the region.
By Dickson Githaiga
