As many as 400 cancer patients from Uganda will get free treatment at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) in Nairobi following the breakdown of Uganda’s only radiotherapy machine.
The expenses will be covered by Aga Khan University’s Patient Welfare Programme, which gets funds from the hospital and is supplemented by individuals and corporate donors hence enabling it to provide subsidised medical care to under privileged patients.
AKUH-Nairobi Chief Executive Officer Shawn Bolouki said the hospital was working with the Government of Uganda to help save the lives of the cancer patients while Uganda worked on re-establishing its radiation therapy capacity.
“Our values as an institution dictate nothing less. While we can only treat a small fraction of those requiring care, given our resources and the tremendous need that exists, we will do all we can to help, and we encourage others to follow our lead,” Bolouki said
It is not the first time the Aga Khan Hospital is offering assistance to cancer patients, as in 2015 it took in Kenyans suffering from cancer for radiotherapy following the break down of machines at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
In December, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and the Aga Khan officiated a ground breaking for the construction of an ultra-modern Aga Khan University Hospital in Kampala, with the first phase of construction expected to be completed in 2020.
