Nakuru Teaching and Referral Hospital is holding its first paediatrics surgical camp in partnership with the Kenya Association of Paediatrics Surgeon.
The camp is a special global model of surgical partnership that deals with the high volume of patients needing surgery. It provides a many opportunities for learning and capacity building by experts.
Chairman of the Kenya Association of Paediatric Surgeons, Dr Joel Lessan said Kenya has a large gap in own paediatric skills set. The country has only two qualified paediatric surgeons.
"We are targeting all the children that need surgery from the age of 0-15 years that are not emergency surgeries but elective surgeries," Lessen said.
"These children have different surgical needs, some arising from being born with a defect while others emanate from accidents and need to be corrected. This exercise will also help upgrade the skills of the surgeons at the camp," he said
He said the need for paediatric surgery is immense as 60 per cent of Kenya's population is 20 years and below. Access to skilled surgical care for children is very difficult.
Nakuru Teaching and Referral Hospital has two of the newly Qualified Paediatric Surgeons who will handle patients across Rift Valley.
The surgeons have been promised support and further capacity-building to help them handle all the paediatric surgical procedures in the facility without the need to refer patients to other hospitals.
The hospital will also be upgraded with necessary facilities to help the surgeons perform their work efficiently.
NCTRH Medical Superintendent Dr Aisha Maina said the Hospital organised this camp with the aim of improving service, education, and collaboration to improve access to paediatric surgery and expertise within the county and beyond.
The hospital aims to operate on an average of 35 patients per day during the four-day camp at the facility that will run from October 24 to 28 at subsidised costs.
The team of 25 doctors at the facility will handle a range of operations from hernias, undescended testes and more complex surgeries.
The camp has brought together paediatric surgeons from Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital, University of Nairobi, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Coast General Hospital and students from across Africa including Ghana and Ethiopia.
(Edited by V. Graham)
