Kenya seeks continued cooperation with Israelis to revolutionize its health care

Kenyan ambassador specifically thanks two Terem doctors for their assistance.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
kenya very good 224.88ap (photo credit: AP)
kenya very good 224.88ap
(photo credit: AP)
Kenyan Ambassador Felicitas Kyoumbi warmly thanked Israel for assistance in medical know-how aimed at training laymen to use computers and cellphones to help millions of her kinsmen who lack conventional medical care. Speaking Wednesday at the second annual conference on Urgent Care and Community Medicine organized by the private TEREM urgent medicine clinics at the Jerusalem International Convention Center, Kyoumbi singled out two Terem physicians - Dr. Brendon Stewart-Freedman and Dr. Deena Zimmerman - for going to Kenya last summer for two weeks. The physicians, invited by Kenya's Health Ministry, visited dispensaries, clinics and hospitals in five of the country's seven provinces to see what would be needed to improve medical care through computerized diagnosis and treatment by local laymen consulting with far-away physicians. The ambassador said Israel contractors were currently building modern roads in her country to replace dirt paths washed away and impassable during the rainy season. This problem, and the emigration of qualified physicians to better-paying jobs in English-speaking Western countries, had reduced the accessibility of medical care to 37 million Kenyans. Most hospital beds were filled with AIDS patients, Kyoumbi said, and malaria and pneumonia were the most common serious diseases. There was little room for people with other disorders - even if they could reach the hospitals. "We know we are not doing so well, but we can learn a lot from our friends. Kenya and Israel share a very special bond and also enjoy friendly and warm relations," she said, "that predate 1963 when we ourselves got independence." As Israel - like Kenya - has a semi-arid climate, she has felt at home here and is encouraged by seeing how much of Israel's land has been made arable. "I have learned you should never say that what you have is not good enough, because you can make it good enough," Kyoumbi said. Stewart-Freedman told The Jerusalem Post that the next step in the cooperation process was to apply for a World Bank grant so TEREM and other Israeli physicians could work with Kenyan counterparts to improve the African country's healthcare. A feature on the conference will appear on the Health Page on Sunday, November 9.