This archive report was first published on 4 July 2020.
On July 4, 2020, American billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates praised a Kenyan doctor for his contributions in the fight against Covid-19.
Dr. Bernard Olayo, a world bank health specialist, has been commended by Gates for his innovative approach to providing low-cost oxygen to Covid-19 patients in Kenya.
According to Gates, Olayo's company, Hewatele, has been instrumental in scaling up medical oxygen supplies in Kenyan hospitals, which will be crucial in keeping critically ill patients alive.
"As Covid-19 spreads across Africa, healthcare facilities face shortages of basic medical supplies, including oxygen," Gates noted in his Heroes in the Field segment on YouTube and Gates Notes.
Dr. Olayo, who holds a bachelor's degree in Medicine from Moi University and a master's in International Public Health from Harvard, has been working tirelessly to increase the reliability and lower the cost of oxygen production in Kenya.
"In Kenya, oxygen costs about 13 times more than what it does in the US. I decided to build oxygen plants at several of the busiest hospitals in the country, where demand is the highest, and reliable electricity for production is available," Dr. Olayo explained.
His goal is to ensure that no health worker has to make the difficult decision of choosing who lives or dies due to a lack of oxygen.
