Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) in Kisumu County has, in an effort to revolutionise healthcare and offer better services to surgical patients, unveiled laparoscopic surgery in the facility after obtaining gasless laparoscopy equipment worth Sh. 4.4 million.
This new technique provides multiple clinical advantages, including low cost, less pain and bleeding after the operation, a shorter hospital stay, a faster recovery time, and reduced scarring.
Laparoscopy prevents large incisions in the patient’s skin since the surgeon uses a device called a laparoscope. The gadget has a light source and a camera that relays images of the inside of the abdomen or pelvis on a screen.
The new development at JOOTRH has been supported by the Operating Theatre Practitioners Association of Kenya (OTPAK), which is working to bolster surgical care in the country.
The organisation donated a laparoscopy tower and instruments that can help with basic general surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology procedures, and various other surgical disciplines.
Dr. Peter Gakuru, OTPAK Project Manager, speaking during the handover ceremony of the state-of-the-art instrument at JOOTRH on Thursday, underscored the need for institutional partnerships to sustain the gains attained so far.
He committed that OTPAK will support JOOTRH with consumables even as procedures are done, noting that about four centres have ceased laparoscopy due to lack of consumables.
“JOOTRH is the 12th public facility in Kenya to have laparoscopic equipment; with this, surgery can be done under local anaesthesia. We commit to training nurses, surgeons, biomedical staff, and anaesthetists so that patients get to benefit,” Dr. Gakuru noted.
The team has so far installed the equipment in 12 public hospitals in Kenya’s rural areas, with about 70 laparoscopic procedures, including paediatric and forensic surgeries, already done.
Kisumu County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Medical Services, Public Health, and Sanitation, Dr. Gregory Ganda, acknowledged OTPAK for the donation that seeks to transform surgical services in the region.
Dr. Ganda assured that a consistent, dedicated surgical team would provide quality management and care of the infrastructure. He noted that despite Kisumu’s trailblazing in primary care, it still needed more investments in other areas.
According to Dr. Patrick Marwa, a general surgeon and laparoscopic and surgical oncologist at JOOTRH, the availability of the technology at the referral facility will impact the training of surgeons, as they will be equipped with the necessary skills to handle patients while using cutting-edge technology.
“Laparoscopy has been a reserve of the rich as the cost was prohibitive and was only available in high-end hospitals; now the less fortunate can afford it at a low cost,” Dr. Marwa added.
Private hospitals charge between Sh. 300,000 and Sh. 350,000 to secure laparoscopic services; however, at JOOTRH, patients are set to get the same services by just paying the theatre fee of about Sh. 7,000.
The noble initiative by OTPAK envisions establishing a sustainable system for gasless laparoscopic surgery and a self-sustaining laparoscopic surgery programme by offering public hospitals a kick-start to enable the facilities to manoeuvre the initial stages of implementation devoid of difficulties.
By Robert Ojwang’
