Kenya to equip hospitals with modern facilities

Kenya on Friday launched a 418- million-U.S. dollar health plan to equip hospitals in the country's 47 counties with modern facilities.

The plan will ensure that every county in Kenya has two hospitals fully equipped with the state-of-the-art facilities, said Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

"Today we inaugurate a project through which people with cancer, diabetes or kidney failure will receive much needed relief," Kenyatta said.

The Managed Equipment Services project will provide each of the selected hospitals with modern theatre equipment, surgical and sterilization equipment, laboratory equipment, kidney dialysis equipment, ICU facilities, digital X-ray machines, ultrasound and imaging equipment.

Reputable and international manufacturers of medical equipment are contracted to install, maintain and replace equipment at the hospitals, the president said.

Cabinet Secretary for Health James Macharia said the procurement of the service for the project was done through a competitive bidding internationally.

"One of the areas where inequality highlights itself most in our country is the access to high quality health care," Kenyatta said, promising that the government will commit to deliver equal access to high quality treatment to all Kenyans "wherever they live and regardless of their economic status".

The project will be rolled out over a one-year period, and after the completion, the government will weigh plans to install such modern machines in all hospitals across the country, the president said. Endi