In a strategic partnership with United Nations, the Nairobi Hospital has decided to build a facility that will benefit the frontliners of the pandemic war.
The facility will include an operating theatre, laboratory, a pharmacy and a radiology diagnostics room. The facility of Sh1.1 billion will be constructed in a period of eight weeks.
United Nations staff based in Kenya will be catered for by the facility that will accommodate 20 000 people. It will have 150 beds with 50 in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 100 in the High Dependency Unit (HDU).
“With this partnership, the United Nations is helping to bolster the capacity of the Kenyan health care system to combat the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Zainab Hawa Bangura, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON).
“Through the provision of additional hospital beds and specialist equipment, this initiative will enable Kenya to deal more safely and effectively with this pandemic, as well as possible future pandemics,” continued Bangura.
In a phone conversation, President Uhuru Kenyatta asked for help from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on March 27 of this year. The President said Kenya’s duty is to act as a centre for medical treatment for the entire region in relation to medical emergencies.
The United Nations will not only help Kenya with building the facility but will also provide specialised equipment that is in short supply globally and may not be easily available in Kenya.
