Support for local health structures

The intervention by World Friends involves on the one hand the strengthening of the basic health structures and the empowerment of preventive medicine in the area of the north East suburbs of Nairobi, and on the other aims to increase access to health services for the marginal sectors of the population through the finalization of a reference system which leads to the best way of using existing resources. Since January 2007 the project has “absorbed” the activities initiated in the sphere of the “Jill” project, guaranteeing the daily presence of health personnel (professional nurses, health, obstetrical assistance) at the dispensaries in the slums, and the weekly/fortnightly presence of basic medical and specialistic services (paediatrics, gyncology, endoscopy, surgery, orthopaedics).

The program envisages the following specific activities:

• Supply of medical equipment for the clinics: St. Theresa Dispensary, Kariobangi Mission Dispensary, Kivuli Dispensary
• Medical-surgery consultations and training of personnel in the Kariobangi, Kivuli and St. Theresa dispensaries
• Creation of a network of dispensaries and of a mechanism patient referrals at the Neema Hospital, the Mbagathi hospital, and the other structures functioning in the area
• Allocation of a free hospitalization fund for poor patients referred  to the structures functioning in the area
• Planning and management of surgical operations at the Mbagathi hospital, treatment management, training of local personnel
• Surgical activities and training of local personnel at the Mbagathi Hospital

In the past, World Friends has also dealt with:

• Restructuring of the St. Theresa and Eastleigh dispensaries
• Provision of medicines and consumables for the dispensaries