NAIROBI, Kenya, May 29 – Five people are still admitted to the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) following Monday’s blast at Assanand’s House along Moi Avenue.
KNH Chief Executive Officer Richard Lesiyampe said on Tuesday that two of the victims were in a critical condition and admitted in the Intensive Care Unit.
“One of them has sustained 90 percent burns, the second one 50 percent burns and the third one ten percent burns. One more patient is admitted with a spinal shock (while) the last patient is admitted suffering from post stress disorder where she is going through hallucinations,” Lesiyampe elaborated.
The hospital received 28 patients of whom 23 were treated and discharged. Three of them were students from the adjacent Mount Kenya University.
Medical Services Minister Anyang’ Nyong’o promised to push for an increase in budgetary funding for the referral hospital to cater for the many incidents occurring.
“Since the Sinai fire incident in September 2011, Kenyatta National Hospital has attended to ten disasters with 371 victims. We as a government must increase funding to Kenyatta National Hospital to deal effectively with these accidents. There must be a special disaster fund specifically for health care,” the Minister said.
He said another 900 accident victims had been treated at the referral hospital during the same period.
The hospital’s Chief Executive disclosed that about Sh1.2 million had been spent in managing the victims of Monday’s blast.
“These disasters happen and no one plans for them and we are caught up in a situation whereby we have to provide services; we have to provide consumables and we have to stretch our human capacity. Following up the same through budgetary provisions, we as a state corporation have to write to our Ministry and inform them how much we have incurred, then they forward it to the Treasury and sometimes it takes quite a while,” Lesiyampe explained.
In the ten disasters the hospital had handled for the last nine months, the Medical Services Minister said it had cost over Sh500 million which the Treasury was yet to refund.
“There is something that can be put aside; when it is not used it can be rolled over to the coming year. The worst thing is for Kenyatta to pile these debts, send them to the Treasury and there is no response, then our hospitals will never improve. In fact if we can fully fund our referral facilities, we can have the best in the world,” the Minister said.
However the referral hospital received Sh40 million from the Treasury for the Sinai fire tragedy that had 106 victims admitted there.
The disasters that follow the Sinai fire tragedy are Busia fire tragedy resulting from a petrol tanker explosion, Shauri Moyo gas poisoning, Mfangano lane Grenade blast, OTC Grenade blast and Machakos Country Bus tragedy which was also a grenade explosion.
Others are Mathare collapsed wall, Githurai tragedy which also involved a collapsed wall, God’s House of Miracle International church disaster-grenade explosion and Monday’s Moi Avenue blast.
Nyong’o suggested that Sh2 billion should be set aside annually for disaster management at Kenyatta National Hospital.
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