EAST AFRICA – The Aga Khan Hospitals, a network of international hospitals, in East Africa have secured a €2.3 million (US$2.6 million) grant from Proparco to boost oxygen supply and support needy patients with quality care to ease access to quality healthcare in the region.

Proparco, a subsidiary of Agence Française de Développement (AFD Group), offered the grant that will benefit Aga Khan Hospitals based in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Dar Es Salaam as well as 94 outreach and medical centres of the Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) in Kenya and Tanzania.

Agha Khan Hospitals is an organization comprising of multinational hospitals based in Dar es Salaam, Mumbai, Kisumu, Mombasa, Nairobi and Pakistan managed by the Aga Khan Health Services, one of the most comprehensive non-profit health-care systems in the developing world.

The French Ministry of Europe and Foreign affairs allocated the grant to the organization as part of AFD Group’s Health in Common initiative designed to help health systems in developing and emerging countries better cope with the Covid-19 crisis.

The grant will be used to scale up oxygen supply and critical care capacity in Mombasa and Kisumu counties within Kenya.

It will also support the welfare funds run by the Aga Khan hospitals including outreach and medical centres that enable qualified needy patients to access free quality care.

Cooperation in the health sector is a strong pillar of the French-Kenyan relations as well as partnerships between European and African countries.

The AFD Group and the Aga Khan Development Network are in cooperation to build more inclusive and resilient health systems in Kenya and Tanzania,” noted Aline Kuster-Ménager, French Ambassador to Kenya.

President of Aga Khan University Sulaiman Shahabuddin said that the Aga Khan Hospitals in East Africa have been at the forefront of the COVID-19 response since the beginning of the pandemic by offering services such as testing, treatment and prevention of Covid-19.

The hospitals also ensured that regular patients received their routine care in a safe manner.

However, the pandemic has strained the healthcare infrastructure especially critical care units and oxygen supply.

The grant will go a long way in building capacity in critical care units and oxygen supply which will enable the hospitals to provide timely and quality care to patients across the region.

Creating access to care is an important mission and the patient welfare funds received through this grant will enable patients who cannot afford the cost of care to access health services,” further said Sulaiman Shahabuddin.

Previously, the Aga Khan Development Network and AFD Group have built a strong relationship over the past 15 years through multiple joint operations in the health sector.

AFD Group granted the group a US$19.5 million loan in 2017 to extend and strengthen the Aga Khan Hospitals in Mombasa and Kisumu.

In addition, AFD gave a €10 million grant in 2019 to develop and support an integrated comprehensive cancer programme in Tanzania through a public-private initiative between AKDN, the Government of Tanzania and the French Institut Curie.

The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development has also been a partner of Proparco since 1990.

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