The Nairobi Hospital has won a global award for its free treatment access programme for cancer patients.
The Glivec International Patient Assistance Programme (GIPAP) offers free drugs for cancer patients.
It supports Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) patients and others with conditions such as Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumours (GST) free of charge once they successfully enroll into the programme.
The Nairobi Hospital received the award during this year’s International Hospital Federation Awards ceremony held in Lisbon, Portugal earlier this week.
The awards ceremony took place during the 46th World Hospital Congress in Lisbon, Portugal, between October 25 and 27, 2023.
Launched in 2015, the IHF Awards honours excellence in hospitals and healthcare organisations around the world.
It floored top health brands from several countries such as Yale New Haven Health System (United States of America), Al Amal Psychiatric Hospital (United Arab Emirates), Lusiadas Saúde (Portugal) and Myongji Hospital (Republic of Korea).
Other key hospitals that were lined up for the award were Amiri Medical Complex (Afghanistan); French Medical Institute for Mothers and Children (Afghanistan); Manila Doctors Hospital (Philippines) and Mediker LLP (Kazakhstan).
Nairobi Hospital CEO James Nyamongo in a statement on Sunday dedicated the award to thousands of cancer warriors who have benefitted from the GIPAP programme noting that it was a historic first for Kenya and Africa.
“To have the Nairobi Hospital recognised globally for what it is doing for our cancer patients is a great honour,” Nyamongo said.
“I am deeply grateful to our medical team led by Prof Nicholas Abinya who have inspired and supported this program over the years.”
He said that the free cancer treatment programme has the capacity to drive social change by increasing accessibility and equity in cancer care in Kenya and even beyond.
So far, more than 2,000 patients have received free cancer treatment with about 150 of them being attended to every week at The Nairobi Hospital.
Deputy Medical Director in Charge of Services and Research Reuben Okioma who received the award on behalf of the hospital said the recognition has confirmed that the global cancer treatment access programme is indeed transforming lives and has given cancer patients fresh hope for the future.
“The award recognizes the Nairobi Hospital for its exceptional contribution to cancer treatment in Kenya and the region. We were the first hospital to establish a dedicated cancer treatment center and the first hospital to invest heavily in cancer treatment equipment,” Okioma said.
Okioma said the programme had enabled thousands of needy patients to access very expensive cancer treatment drugs.
For many years now, The Nairobi Hospital has partnered with local and foreign healthcare players to offer free drugs for cancer patients under the GIPAP project.
The partners include Max Foundation together with Novartis Pharmaceutical which provides the medication, Axios International aids in the distribution of drugs and Henzo Kenya, a patient support group.
The Nairobi Hospital plays a key role in coordination, storage, and other logistics together with the Ministry of Health.
