This archive report was first published on 16 November 2019.
On President Uhuru Kenyatta's Big Four Agenda for Universal Health Coverage, Victoria Commercial Bank has taken a significant step to support this initiative. The bank has been funding local hospitals and patients in Nairobi's Mukuru slums, paying medical bills and supporting patients who cannot afford treatment.
Victoria Commercial Bank, which recently received a top global credit rating, has been supporting health centres in Nairobi's Mukuru slums. The bank's initiative has benefited Jalaram Medical Centre, which receives a KSh 100,000 monthly support from the bank.
According to the facility's administrators, the money is used to support patients who cannot fully pay their medical needs to obtain subsidised medical care from the centre. For the past three years, Jalaram Centre has benefited from KSh 1 million used to facilitate chemotherapy treatment.
The money has been pivotal in improving access to cancer treatment for patients who cannot afford it, especially at this time when the diagnosis of the ailment is rife. The bank's CEO and Co-trustee, Yogesh Pattni and Azmina Pattni, have also been instrumental in helping young children undergo delicate and expensive heart surgeries which their families could not afford.
So far, the duo has financed four heart surgeries to the tune of KSh 4 million (KSh 1 million each) for children in need of the services but unable to raise the amount required for treatment. The surgeries were conducted during the Healing Little Hearts Mission UK and MP Shah hospital's heart camp.
