Kenya

In Kibera, the largest slum settlement in Nairobi, MSF is supporting the Kibera South Health Centre, a health facility built and previously run by MSF. The team of seven staff is assisting with infection prevention and control, triage, screening, and managing referral of suspect cases to a nearby hospital. 

In Homa Bay, we are prioritising remote support and home visits to vulnerable patients (people with advanced HIV and chronic illnesses) to avoid their potential exposure to COVID-19 through hospital visits. At Homa Bay regional hospital the team has set up triage, screening, and an isolation room. We are also providing basic equipment and kits for people in quarantine.

In Nairobi, Kiambu, Dadaab, Malela and Mombasa counties, our teams are supporting health facilities by conducting awareness-raising sessions and training in COVID-19 patient care, and providing logistical support.

In Dagahaley camp in Dadaab—Kenya’s largest refugee camp—we have also set up an isolation unit that can provide beds for up to 40 COVID-19 positive patients.

In Mombasa, MSF is supporting the Department of Health to provide comprehensive emergency obstetric and neonatal care in the Mrima health centre. Three isolation rooms have been set up, which will allow women who have COVID-19 to give birth safely.

Across many of the healthcare facilities that MSF teams work from, patients with chronic diseases have been provided with a three-month supply of their medications to reduce their risk of COVID-19 exposure. Mental health consultations to survivors of sexual violence are continuing over the phone during the pandemic. 

Potentially new activities are limited by the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) – teams are attempting to replenish stock through local channels.

Kenya's military entered Somalia in October 2011 to curb the threat of the Islamist militant Al-Shabab movement, which it accused of the kidnap and killing of tourists and aid workers. Since 2013, Al-Shabab has launched an increasingly deadly series of reprisal attacks in Kenya itself.

Médecins Sans Frontières first worked in Kenya in 1987. Our work in the country has continued to provide much-needed medical care in Kenya’s refugee camps and slums, while also responding to public health challenges and outbreaks of disease across the country. 

MSF coordinates vaccinations, primary healthcare, nutrition programs, as well as treatment for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like hypertension and diabetes.

HIV Care

Officially, free HIV treatment has been available nationwide for over a decade. Unfortunately, social stigma and long distances prevent many patients from accessing care. MSF works with the Ministry of Health and local communities to run outreach services, including door-to-door visits, testing and counselling, to reduce the spread of HIV and the number of deaths from HIV-related diseases.

Homa Bay has the highest rate of HIV infection in the country, with over 24% of the population of the county testing positive to the virus, and 2% of the population infected every year. MSF supports both inpatient and outpatient services in 33 facilities in Ndhiwa subcounty, in addition to two wards for patients with advanced HIV-related diseases. MSF also supports the tuberculosis (TB) ward at Homa Bay county referral hospital, treating patients with both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant strains of the disease.

Dadaab Refugee Camps

The Dadaab refugee camps in northeast Kenya have sheltered refugees for over 25 years.

The camps came under threat in 2016 when the Kenyan government announced their intended closure, citing economic, security and environmental concerns. The decision would have forced the inhabitants, nearly 250,000 Somali refugees, to return to Somalia, where there is limited access to healthcare and ongoing insecurity.

In February 2017, in a ruling that was welcomed by MSF, the High Court of Kenya put a stop to the government’s plans to close the Dadaab camps.

In Dagahaley camp in Dadaab, MSF runs two health posts, as well as a hospital for more complicated cases. The teams in Dagahaley provide sexual and reproductive healthcare, surgery, medical and psychological assistance for victims of sexual violence, mental health support, treatment for HIV and tuberculosis (TB), palliative care for patients with chronic illnesses, home-based insulin management for patients with diabetes, and emergency response services.

Find out more about Kenya