President Uhuru Kenyatta oversees the signing of an MoU by GSD vice president Kamel Ghribi (left) and Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe. Photo via Nation Media Group

The latest in a country seen as the most potential e-health market in the continent is an agreement the Kenyan government has signed with Italy’s largest private hospital group Gruppo San Donato (GSD) and Italian medical varsity Vita -Salute San Raffaele University.

The collaboration targets to enhance the access of medical care, diagnosis and treatment through telemedicine platforms and the construction of modern hospitals.

In the presence of the Italian Ambassador to Kenya, Alberto Pieri, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between GSD, represented by its vice president Kamel Ghribi, Prof Gianvito Martino, the Vice Rector for Research at the Vita -Salute San Raffaele University and the Kenyan government, represented Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe.

The MoU relates to a partnership between the Italian hospital, the Vita - Salute San Raffaele University and the Kenyan Ministry of Health to provide an enhanced local e-health sector.

Regional health hubs

Mr Ghribi said Africa’s universal health care requires regional health hubs which in turn can become key geo strategic health centers on the continent.

“To achieve this, we need to have stronger networks of health cooperation. The agreement between Italy and Kenya is a sign of long-term engagement for a better future and healthcare for all,” he said.

With a long-term vision to guarantee universal healthcare in Kenya, the partnership aims to ultimately provide improved assistance and quality services to Kenya’s urban and rural population.

Telemedicine adoption in Kenya began in 2015, but has grown over the years to boast of over 60 apps that provide health related solutions through videoconferencing, thanks to an increasingly faster and more affordable internet.

One area of focus for the Group San Donato, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and the Kenyan government will include development and support of the Kenyan national plan for mental health with the construction of a center in Nairobi.

“Kenya and GSD will collaborate on research and the implementation of mental health interventions. Our objective is to adopt the philosophy of family health for the population. Kenyans deserve quality healthcare,” said Mr Kagwe.

Training

Others will be field training and exchange of professionals and students to strengthen clinical and specialist skills; partnership on research and innovation projects on telemedicine, consultancy for development projects of the care and assistance network and construction of new and modern specialized care facilities.

Such efforts, the three parties believe, will eventually make Kenya the health hub of medical excellence in Africa.

According to Bloomberg’s 2019 Health Index, Italy is recognised as the second healthiest country in the world, having the fourth most efficient healthcare system globally.

The country’s national healthcare system, strong focus on healthy eating habits, combined with prevention, promotes and ensures longevity for its citizens.

Besides being a front-runner in the European healthcare arena, Italy offers excellent hospitality standards and a multitude of tourist attractions.

The Rwandan capital Kigali and eight other districts across the country are sent back into lockdown to curb surging coronavirus cases and deaths.

Citizens are urged to significantly reduce social interactions and limit movements only to essential services until 26th July.

Both public and private offices, except for those providing key services, were ordered closed.

Other measures due to come into force include a ban on outdoor sport and recreational activities, while schools will be closed and the number of people attending funerals is capped at 15.

International arrivals and tourism will however continue.

A dusk to dawn curfew introduced in June across the country remains in force.

Rwanda has up until now avoided the worst of the pandemic by enforcing some of the strictest containment measures on the continent and implementing a rigorous regime of testing and contact tracing.

But in recent weeks, cases have skyrocketed as the East African nation battles more virulent variants of the virus, including delta.

Hospitals have been overwhelmed, with a critical shortage of beds and desperately needed medicines.

The country of 13 million people has registered nearly 51,000 cases of Covid-19 of which 607 have been fatal.

But like other countries on the continent, vaccine uptake has been slow due in part to a lack of doses and public apathy.

A nationwide campaign aimed at vaccinating 60 percent of the population by next year has so far reached just 401,160 people, according to latest government statistics. - AFP/Africanews

A health worker prepares to administer the Sinovac Biotech Ltd. Covid-19 vaccine on a passenger at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Indonesia, on Friday, July 9, 2021. The Covid-19 crisis has forced dozens of carriers and other aviation businesses to restructure or seek bankruptcy protection. Photo Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg 

(Bloomberg) -- Tanzania’s semi-autonomous Zanzibar archipelago begun vaccinations against the coronavirus, leading the way in a nation that downplayed the extent of the pandemic for more than a year.

Health authorities in the Indian Ocean islands started administering Sinovac Biotech Ltd.’s shots on front-line workers last week, Zanzibar’s Health Ministry Permanent Secretary Omar Shajak said, without disclosing the number of doses imported from the Chinese company. They plan to give a second dose after two weeks.

“The Sinovac vaccines were originally meant to be administered to people who wanted to attend the annual Hajj pilgrimage,” Shajak said. “After Saudi Arabia prohibited foreign visitors due to the coronavirus outbreak, we decided to give those vaccines to our front-line workers.”

With Tanzania now inoculating people, Eritrea and Burundi remain the only African countries yet to start vaccinating against the deadly virus. The holdouts, due to reasons from denial of the severity of the disease to logistical challenges and hesitancy, are causing concern that they could become breeding ground for new Covid-19 variants and stifle global efforts to end the pandemic.

Africa has reported almost 6 million cases and fully vaccinated less than 1.2% of its population, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Zanzibar aims to inoculate 1.4 million of its 1.6 million people -- including children as young as 10 years -- as part of a plan to reboot its tourism-dependent economy. The wider population will get shots once vials procured by Tanzania’s central government through the Covax vaccine-sharing program arrive, Shajak said.

Tanzania, with approximately 61 million people, halted publishing infection and death rates for more than a year on directives from former President John Magufuli. His successor, Samia Hassan, resumed releasing partial data -- 408 cases were reported over the weekend.

President Hassan’s administration submitted a request for vaccines to the Covax facility last month, and asked the International Monetary Fund for $571 million to help the economy recover from the pandemic. - Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala, Bloomberg News