The Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology has been identified to host a centre of excellence in rehabilitative services and assistive technology development.
The Ministry of Health has revealed that plans are at an advanced stage to ensure the plan is achieved with the groundbreaking expected to take place in September.
The project will be undertaken in partnership between the ministry and the World Health Organization.
According to the acting director of the Directorate of Healthcare services at the ministry Zeinab Gura, the decision to have JKUAT host the centre was arrived at based on the fact that the university already offers training courses for rehabilitation personnel.
Another factor considered was the availability of enough space to set up the centre.
“This centre of excellence will support training and research because we are looking at innovation and technology as a way of ensuring access,” Gura said.
“We needed an academic institution that has space where we can put up, and further discussion is that they also provide the land and the collaboration for training,” she added.
According to the ministry, access to rehabilitative services by users with visual, hearing and speech impairments is a challenge.
This is owing to the rehabilitative services they require being offered by very few facilities mostly in urban areas.
Such services are currently available in level 6 and a few level five facilities only.
According to a nationwide assessment of rehabilitative services undertaken by the ministry in 238 facilities across the country in 2019, there exists a massive shortage in the number of facilities offering rehabilitative services, space to offer the services and cadres critical in providing rehabilitative services.