This archive report was first published on 21 July 2020.
On March 27, 2020, President Uhuru Kenyatta requested support from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to build a Covid-19 treatment facility in Kenya, describing it as 'Kenya's duty to the United Nations and the region.'
The United Nations has since partnered with the Nairobi Hospital to construct a Sh1.1 billion facility, which will have a 150-bed capacity with 25 beds in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 50 beds in the High Dependency Unit (HDU).
The facility, which will be built within eight weeks, will also include an operating theater, laboratory, pharmacy, and radiology diagnostics. The UN will provide specialized equipment that is in short supply globally and may not be easily available in Kenya.
According to Zainab Hawa Bangura, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), the partnership will enable Kenya to deal more safely and effectively with the pandemic, as well as possible future pandemics.
‘With this partnership, the United Nations is helping to bolster the capacity of the Kenyan health care system to combat the Covid-19 pandemic,’ said Ms Bangura.
The facility will be Kenyan-built and run, using locally sourced contractors, labor, and materials. It will serve not only UN staff and their families but also locals.
‘This partnership has in effect created two hospitals in one. The main hospital across the road and the Covid-19 treatment facility. This treatment facility compliments the Silver Springs isolation centre,’ said Dr Allan Pamba, Chief Executive Officer of the Nairobi Hospital.
