By Obegi Malack
obegimalack@gmail.com
More than 700 patients received free assessment, screening and treatment of diverse medical conditions during Centrumberliner Medical Centre free medical outreach in Kiserian.
Some of the health areas of interest were speech therapy, audiology, hearing assessment, physiotherapy, counselling & psychology, optical services, dental, reproductive health, general screening, among other specialties.
Patients were mainly from Kajiado West, an area that has few hospitals per population, especially the Maasai who mostly depend on traditional herbs and do not go to hospital for checkups.
Some of the patients were children suffering from conditions such as autism spectrum disorders, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), cerebral palsy, and other developmental disabilities.
These groups are usually stigmatized as they are believed to be cursed for failure to observe certain traditions.
Centrumberliner co-founder and Managing Director Roisa Kerry said due to the hard economic times and the loss of livelihoods owing to the prolonged drought, some families prioritize other needs like shelter and food as compared to healthcare. Consequently, some patients seek treatment when their health has completely deteriorated.
Dr Inge Vervoort, head of International Office Thomas More University in Belgium, said there was a lot of progress in the exercise, adding more needed to be done to ensure the communities get affordable healthcare.
Dr. Ezekiel Mecha from University of Nairobi (UoN) said they will continue partnering with like-minded institutions to reach out to more people in the community.
The Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) Deputy Director Johannah Mweu said many patients turned out for the services and parents with special needs children were trained on how to take care of them.
He noted that more medical outreach camps were needed, which will enable many people to access services for free and also reduce pressure on public health facilities.
Specialists and partners were from the Ministry of Health, Kajiado County Government, Thomas More University Antwerp, UoN, KISE, Sinai Hospital, Barbara and Franziska Piontek (sisters4women) from Germany, Andy Speaks for Special Needs Persons Africa, and Afya Africa, among others.