Telecommunications firm Safaricom through the M-Pesa foundation is set to invest Sh5 million into healthcare and education in Baringo County.
Residents of Marigat will from Wednesday be able to access specialist medical care through Daktari Smart while children with disabilities at Marigat Special School will benefit from education infrastructure.
This is after the foundation handed over a telemedicine facility at the Marigat Catholic Mission Health Centre as part of its Daktari Smart program.
The telemedicine facility, worth Sh4 million, will enable healthcare workers at the facility to place electronic medical devices such as a stethoscope or vital signs monitor on the patient, with a specialist at Gertrude’s Children’s Hospital in Muthaiga, Nairobi, being able to see the patient, interpret the data and provide specialist care in real-time.
“We are glad to partner with Baringo and Gertrude’s Hospital Foundation to enhance access to health in the county. This facility adds to the one at Chemolingot Sub-County Hospital, which has already enabled more than 400 people to access highly specialised care since its launch in December 2021,” said M-Pesa Foundation chairman Nicholas Ng’ang’a.
Children with disabilities at Marigat Special School will now have access to a conducive learning environment after the foundation handed over a newly constructed and furnished classroom worth Sh1.3 million.
The project is part of the Foundation’s Wezesha Elimu Programme, which is delivered in partnership with Christian Blind Mission (CBM) Kenya and CURE Kenya Hospital.
It seeks to empower children with disabilities to access education through the provision of corrective surgeries and infrastructure support to schools.
M-Pesa Foundation launched Daktari Smart in 2021, in partnership with Gertrude’s Hospital Foundation.
The three-year program seeks to leverage telemedicine to provide specialist care to more than 32,000 children in Baringo, Homa Bay, Lamu and Samburu.