MIGORI: Migori Governor Ochillo Ayacko yesterday led the laying of foundation stone for construction of the first sickle cell anemia hospital at Igena Center, Kehancha Town in Kuria West constituency.
The construction undertaken by the Journey By Grace Mission of Compassion, a United States of America (USA) based charity organization, will not only help patients in Migori but also the region and nearby Tanzania to get access to specialised treatment.
While laying the foundation stone for start of construction, the Ayako said the mission started their work in Migori a decade ago and the need to make the next level move to build the hospital was necessitated by close working relation through Migori Deputy Governor Joseph Mahiri and first lady Agnes Ayacko through her foundation.
“The two led the starting of a specialised sickle cell anemia clinic at Rongo Sub-county Hospital in 2023 which saw us have initial 96 patients, and since then we have managed to have active 362 patients at the clinic which showed a gap which needed to be filled,” Ayacko said.
Clinic also has an electrophoresis machine which aids in the management of sickle cell patients which separates molecules, primarily DNA, RNA, and proteins, based on their size and electrical charge which reduces time for diagnosis.
The governor said the deputy governor and the first lady had to travel to the USA to ensure the dream of the hospital becomes a reality.
We laud the start of this special hospital whose foundation culminated after a two day free medical camp in Migori where over 800 patients benefited from free medical healthcare.
“In Migori we believe that life will be worthless if we don’t have health and we are doing our best to ensure the hospital became a dream from ensuring smooth running and logistics,” he added.
He said Migori has Migori has 167 health facilities of 143 are dispensaries most of them revived since taking over after 2022 general elections.
“We worked on repairs and renovation of stalled dispensaries and hospitals and we revamped them in addition to adding motivated staff to offer service delivery and working closely with over 3,000 Community Health Volunteers to boost service delivery,” he said.
Ahead of the laying of the foundation stone today, the county government and the mission had a two day free medical camp at Huduma Hospital Mambiso- Kehancha and Kehancha Cereal Grounds and at Siabai Chief’s Camp and Ntimaru Cereal Grounds.
The camps saw over 800 patients benefited from general consultation, pharmacy, laboratory services, nutritional assessment and counseling, public health education, specialized services, dental check-up and cervical cancer screening.
Dr Duchess Joyce El from the mission said that today’s event is historic in their decade long engagement in Migori and will help in creating sickle cell Warriors in public education and offer dignity and a shoulder to patients.
“Personally I started the journey to alleviate the pain of sickle cell anemia patients when I saw their struggle as a medical doctor and I challenge to community to join us in making this dream a reality,” she said.
Evy Oluoch and Stacy Rioba, two sickle cell champions who were diagnosed with the disease as infants said the hospital will be a big welcome in the county.
“We always go through pain and we rely on caregivers, parents and even teachers as we often drop out of school for long hours. We also face a lot of stigma from society and we are humbled by this gesture,” Oluoch said.
Rioba said the hospital will be a welcome to doctors for the great job they have been doing for patients and will help the Rongo Sickle Cell clinic.
“This is not a hospital, but a place of hope because for us we face a constant hospital life and this struggle we face shows the world is giving us a listening ear,” Rioba said.
