Day: April 20, 2024

The Kenya Pediatric Association (KPA), in collaboration with Ethypharm, has launched a vital medical commodity aimed at bolstering infant healthcare.

Speaking during the 23rd Annual KPA Scientific Conference at the Pride Inn Paradise Resort, Shanzu, Rob Brutchet, General Manager of Ethypharm, said that Across Africa, many areas of mortality have improved but infant mortality has not.

He emphasized that the latest guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO) advocate for the utilization of caffeine citrate to mitigate infant mortality, adding the partnership will ensure that the country can produce remedies towards improving healthcare outcomes.

He said the new product Known as ‘Caffeine Citrate’ plays a crucial role in the treatment of Apnoea of prematurity, a condition characterized by episodes where premature infants cease breathing for durations exceeding 20 seconds or exhibit bradycardia, accompanied by diminished oxygen saturation level.

Brutchet said likelihood of Apnoea of prematurity increa
ses proportionally with the degree of prematurity in infants as it stems from the immaturity of the brain adding while factors like infections, and temperature problems can result in apnoea, newborns who develop this condition are at risk for complications and death.

This comes after Kenya, last year, launched the national guideline on the management of Apnoea of Prematurity across the country. The guideline is geared at enabling healthcare workers to effectively prevent and treat apnoea of prematurity using caffeine citrate, as well as use Bubble Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) and monitor oxygen levels using pulse oximetry.

‘Newborns do not have people to fight for them and at times they are forgotten just because we don’t raise concern about what they encounter; hence, as an institution, we are here to give a solution to the needs raised by the practitioners in management of newborn ailments,’ said Kirklin Mwagilu, Key Accounts Manager, Ethypharm.

Ethypharm is a dynamic European pharmaceutica
l company dedicated to improving healthcare outcomes, with a strong focus on two core areas, including the central nervous system and hospital injectables.

Furthermore, Kirklin highlighted the product’s accessibility in the market, noting a significant 70 percent reduction from its original price. Consequently, the commodity now retails at Sh450 each, compared to the previous price of over Sh1500

‘We as an institution provided the product before but it had challenges with availability and affordability hence we decided to pass on a market access price of the commodity to the government since at least 80 percent of the newborns are normally in a government setup,’ said Kirklin.

However, as much as caffeine citrate is expected to be a game changer as it has various beneficial effects including fewer ventilator days, reduced incidence of Broncho pulmonary dysplasia, and improved neurodevelopmental outcomes. The drug also has a side effect upon consumption including increased heart rate if administered at an e
xcessive dose considering the drug itself is a stimulant.

Nevertheless, Kirklin noted that the drug has had success stories at a few referral hospitals in the country, including the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, as they recorded a drastic drop of infant mortality upon usage.

‘We have seen the benefit of caffeine citrate in these hospitals. Previously, they used to lose newborns but as soon as the product got into these institutions, the mortality rate of newborns drastically dropped as they were able to save lives with a simple administration of caffeine citrate,’ he added.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Over 1,200 beneficiaries of Wings to Fly and Elimu Scholarship drawn from Machakos, Makueni and Kajiado counties have benefited from a three-day mentorship programme on leadership, education and empowerment.

The programme dubbed ‘The Triad to Success’ is set to benefit 23,101 students across the country, including 2,574 refugees from Dadaab and Kakuma camps.

Machakos University Vice Chancellor Professor Joyce Agalo hailed Equity Bank for giving students from poor and needy households an opportunity to pursue education and achieve their dreams.

‘We applaud Equity Bank and especially the CEO, Dr. James Mwangi for being a visionary and magnanimous man who has enabled less privileged students to get education,’ said Professor Agalo.

Addressing the students at Mumbuni High School, the vice chancellor cautioned them against drug and substance abuse.

‘As students, avoid bad company that can influence you in to taking drugs that can derail your dreams to pursue education, ‘she said.

Equity Bank Limited Director
of Operations Stephen Kalani said the mentorship programme is meant to equip the students with practical skills and knowledge that will help them navigate the current dynamic world.

He disclosed that the programme was running concurrently in 19 centers in all the 47 counties.

Machakos County Executive Committee Member (CECM) lauded the programme for transforming lives of beneficiaries.

Mutisya disclosed that the county government has started a similar programme supporting 40 students and called on other well-wishers to sponsor less privileged children to pursue their dreams.

Source: Kenya News Agency

At least nine former National Youth Service (NYS) graduates were recruited to the Kenya Wildlife Service during a recruitment exercise carried out at Busia County Stadium.

Speaking to KNA after the end of the exercise, the Deputy Director of KWS Samwel Tokore said that hundreds of youth from the seven sub-counties of Busia turned out for the exercise.

‘We have managed to select 16 recruits after conducting a very competitive process,’ he said, adding that three females were among the successful candidates.

Tokore added that the exercise that kicked off at six am ran smoothly and was conducted in a free and fair manner with members of the public being witnesses.

‘We were looking at the academic qualification as one was supposed to have an original KCSE certificate with a minimum qualification of D (plain),’ he said.

He further said that candidates were required to be 18-26 years and bring original national identity cards, adding that a certificate from NYS was an added advantage.

‘The recruit rangers wil
l help in reinforcement of KWS operations and particularly in areas of human-wildlife conflicts, addressing illegal wildlife trade and issues of wild meat trade in our parks in the country,’ he said.

The youth who were disqualified for not having the required height urged KWS to do away with the requirement so that they can be allowed to participate in future recruitment exercises.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The Matatu Owners Association (MOA), in partnership with National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) and the traffic police, have conducted a road safety clinic in Machakos to sensitize Matatu owners and the crew on road safety.

Speaking during the road safety clinic at Machakos bus stage, Albert Karakacha, the president of MOA, said that the association is engaging members, drivers and stakeholders in road safety clinics to reduce the number of accidents on the roads.

Karakacha said MOA plans to conduct the road safety clinics in every county and called for support from stakeholders. ‘We had a meeting with the president and we agreed that within 90 days the number of accidents must go down,’ he said.

The MOA boss also noted that the clinics are also meant to help stop the crackdown of matatus on the roads which also results in corruption between the involved parties.

Karakacha urged the county officials and stakeholders to form a committee that will ensure that the clinics are held every month.

He wa
rned the drivers against drunk driving and overloading especially luggage and advised them to use courier services for the passengers’ luggage rather than carrying excess luggage on the public service vehicles.

‘We must create employment through the county for courier services, there should be cars for carrying luggage,’ added Karakacha.

Additionally, the Machakos Chief Executive Member (CECM), for Roads and Transport, Rita Ndunge, urged the drivers to adhere to the traffic rules and ensure all their vehicles have safety belts to reduce carnage.

Ndunge also called upon the boda boda riders to have helmets for themselves and their passengers and to observe the speed limit to ensure their safety.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu has launched the Alternative Justice System (AJS) County Action Plan (CAP) model and suite for Narok County to reduce case backlog and expedite the resolution of disputes in local courts.

AJS, she said, will promote dispute resolution including reconciliation, mediation, arbitration and traditional dispute resolution mechanisms.

She observed that CAP identifies a number of justice challenges in the county among them multiple forms of gender-based violence that include sexual violence, which are prevalent across the county but often normalized, underreported, and concealed.

Mwilu stated that a key challenge damaging the legitimacy of AJS mechanisms is that of gender equality, equity and justice, saying some AJS mechanisms, both in composition and process, disfavor women and girls and fail to accord them the rights due to them.

However, to deal with such ills, she said, it is necessary to ensure that the existing forms of AJS in the county are constitutionally compliant
and operate within the outer boundaries set out in the Constitution.

‘We must abandon the assumption that AJS practitioners, especially elders who come from communities in which harmful and discriminatory cultural practices occur or are prevalent, are disinterested or incapable of shifting beliefs and practices to comply with constitutional requirements,’ she reiterated.

The launch was held at TM grounds in Narok town and attended by Narok Governor Patrick Ntutu, Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku, Justice Professor Joel Ngugi and Narok County Assembly Speaker Davis Dikirr.

The Lady Justice continued that the judiciary’s obligation to promote AJS is being actively pursued under a human rights framework anchored by the duty to respect, protect and transform.

‘There is increased recognition amongst AJS practitioners that there can be no legitimacy where the composition, operations and decisions of these mechanisms are unconstitutional or result in rights violations and discrimination,’ said the lady justice.

Governor Ntutu said the County Government will donate land and build three courts at Olkurto, Angata Barikoi and Loita areas to ease suffering for the people who travel long distances to seek justice in a court of law.

Ntutu reiterated that the county government sponsored the process because he is interested in seeing justice delivered to the people at a faster rate.

‘I request all the cases still lying in court to be withdrawn and taken to AJS. Some of these cases have dragged on for very many years,’ he said.

On his part, Governor Lenku said his county was among the first counties to launch AJS in the county, saying it has helped the residents get justice faster than the formal court way.

He said since Kajiado launched the programme, over 200 cases have been registered through AJS out of which 140 cases have been resolved amicably.

‘The system leaves a win-win situation. It is less costly as people do not have to travel long distances to resolve their issues,’ he said.

Mzee Maranga Otuni praised the s
ystem saying it will bring justice to the less fortunate and vulnerable people in the society.

‘In AJS, people will come confidently. No one will be coerced to give any amount of money in order to get justice. The panelists will deal with the case in a very objective manner so that everyone can get justice,’ he said.

Source: Kenya News Agency

The State of Employee Experience (EX) for Customer Experience (CX) Success survey carried out by the Institute of Customer Experience (ICX), Kenya, reveals that the majority of employees are not happy in their workplaces.

The survey, carried out between March and April 2024, shows that the Employees Net Promoter Score (eNPS), a metric that measures employees loyalty and engagement to an organization, is at 23 per cent.

‘Twenty-three per cent is not good enough; we need to move higher than that. The reports show 30 per cent of employees are not too happy, while 24 per cent find their work places not the place to be,’ said Carolyne Gathuru, ICX Board Director in Mombasa, during the 5th Annual Africa Customer Experience Conference.

The survey respondents were from various government and private sectors, including finance, Telco, transport, manufacturing, healthcare, energy, agriculture, technology and education sectors.

The survey also revealed misalignment between EX and CX, and quiet quitting, with over 50
per cent of employees not actively engaged at work, indicating a need for improved engagement strategies.

The launch of the survey aligns with the Government of Kenya’s strategic objectives as outlined in the strategic plans of various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA).

‘The understanding of the current state of employee experience and its implications for customer satisfaction, decision-makers can prioritize interventions to enhance public service delivery and organizational performance,’ said Gathuru.

‘What has come out of this report is so fundamental to any organization, not only in the country but the entire continent, because we know that when Kenya does something, the rest of the region follows,’ she added.

Gathuru encouraged employers to understand their workforce likes, dislikes, what give them joy or pain at work and take necessary corrective measures.

‘When we have happy employees’ business will flourish. If the business sector is working, then the entire nation will work. We need a r
obust business environment that comes from the people that work in the businesses,’ stated Gathuru.

The report point out disparity of how work is viewed by generation Z, Millennial, X and baby boomers. Gathuru noted the need to align Human Resource Management and internal customers’ policies to a younger workforce.

The survey shows that data and technology is key and need to be used in a way that speaks to a morphing and a dynamic strategy.

ICX Director of Customer Metrics Akshay Shah said organizations need to focus on making their employees happy as organizations traditionally have been putting a lot of efforts in the customers’ space but there is a misalignment.

He challenged organizations to put more efforts, initiatives and money to improve employees’ experiences.

‘Get the culture within the organizations right coupled with aspirational leadership because without the right culture and leadership employees and customer experiences will fail,’ said Shah.

He added that the survey shows that some emplo
yees do not have emotional attachment to the organizations they are working in.

‘They will come to work but mentally, they have checked out. They actually are not performing and this has a big impact on the performance of the company because if employees are disgruntled, they also affect the motivation of other employees in the organization, thus bringing productivity down,’ explained Shah.

On his part, Uniliver Kenya Managing Director Luck Ochieng stated that employees are the bedrock of company’s success and if they have better experience it will drive performance.

Joseph Choge, Chairman of ICX, hailed the conference under the theme: ‘Elevating Employee Experience for Customer Experience Success’ saying it brought together business leaders, Chief Executives and a host of Customer Experience professionals and practitioners at both senior and mid-level management.

Besides, he said the event was insightful and participants exchanged best practices: ‘We encourage all organizations in the country and beyond
to look at the experiences of their employees because without a happy employee then there is no happy customer,’ said Choge.

Source: Kenya News Agency