Philips donates ultrasound machines to district hospitals

Global electronic giant Philips has partnered with the Ministry of Medical Services to provide state of art medical equipments to all district hospital in the country. The new development will see over 60 ultrasound systems delivered to high level district hospitals in an effort aimed at improving access to critical health care services in the country.

The company's director in charge of East and North Africa, Roel Assies, said the ultrasound project was in line with the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) 4 and 5 that aim to reduce infant mortality by two thirds and maternal deaths by three-quarters by 2015. “Worldwide, complications of pregnancy and childbirth contribute to 358,000 maternal deaths annually, 99 percent of which occur in developing countries .The use of ultrasound is imperative for health providers to rule out a number of these pregnancy complications as a diagnostic tool to address the most important factors in maternal and neonatal mortality,” said Assies.

He was speaking in Eldoret during the third consecutive Cairo to Cape Town road show which begun on May 14th in Cairo and is making its way across eleven countries and seventeen cities in Africa. Kijiado District hospital will be the first receipt of the facility that will enhance early detection maternal implications thus reducing maternal deaths.

In Eldoret, Philips hosted a tailor- made clinical training workshop on maternal and pre-natal care at the Mother and Baby Riley center of the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. The two day workshop was used to train local health care workers on how to accomplish safe childbirths and improve maternal and infant care. Similar training was also conducted in Nairobi by Philips in partnership with the Kenyan Women & Children’s Wellness Centre of the James Jordan Foundation.