A medical team from the Indiana Hemophilia & Thrombosis Center (IHTC) leaves for Eldoret, Kenya, today as part of an IHTC program to build capacity in Kenya to support individuals who live with bleeding disorders. The team of five will bring boxes of supplies and equipment and will join two IHTC staff members already in Kenya. The IHTC team and several other medical professionals will provide free testing and care to patients in addition to leading a three-day educational symposium for Kenyan healthcare professionals.
The IHTC staff has made three other trips to Kenya since beginning a World Federation of Hemophilia-sponsored twinning program with Kenya’s Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) through AMPATH, which is a collaboration of Moi University, MTRH and a consortium of North American academic centers led by Indiana University in partnership with the government of Kenya and serving 3 million people.
Through the twinning program with the IHTC, MTRH now has Kenya’s only functional laboratory capable of diagnosing hemophilia.
“An estimated 1 in 1,000 women and men live with a bleeding disorder. However, 75 percent receive very inadequate treatment or no treatment at all,” said Dr. Ann Greist, who is already in Kenya and is co-medical director for the IHTC. “Our Kenya twinning program is one way we are working to inspire people to help close the gap in treatment and care for people who live with bleeding disorders. Our goal is to improve accessibility and quality of care and to make treatment available to all people, everywhere.”
While the IHTC team is in Kenya, it will commemorate World Hemophilia Day, April 17, by hosting a multidisciplinary comprehensive clinic for 125 patients. The team is also bringing boxes of supplies, including factor replacement, diagnostic testing equipment for hemophilia and sickle cell disease, factor replacement, other treatment therapies, physical therapy supplies, consumable lab supplies and educational materials.
IHTC team members will be sharing photos and updates about their work in Kenya via the IHTC’s Facebook page and website.
