The Cuban doctor attached to the Nyeri Referral Hospital Dr Eisy Cabrera was forced to return to her country after it was discovered that she was suffering from a brain tumour.
Nyeri County Director of Communications Carol Nderi told Kenyans.co.ke that the foreign medic left for Cuba on Monday.
County Health Chief Officer Newton Wambugu stated that “She left after a one-month observation period and treatment in Nairobi.”
He went ahead to praise the contribution she had made since she started working in the hospital in July.
Wambugu added, “She made proposals towards service improvement at the hospital. We endeavour to implement them in our strategic plans."
He also assured that her absence would not be felt for long as they were expecting a replacement by the end of 2018.
Dr Cabrera, who was part of the delegation of Cuban doctors working in the country, was a nephrologist and focused on the treatment of kidney conditions and abnormalities. Dialysis at the referral hospital is currently being conducted by a physician who took over when she left.
The lack of a nephrologist at the hospital will likely result in delays in treatment, considering the number of cases of kidney diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity have been rising.
Nyeri county leads in the prevalence of non-communicable disease, with diabetes affecting 6.4 per cent of the population.
According to the World Diabetes Foundation, the prevalence rate of the disease is about 3.3 per cent in Kenya.
