Afya Mtaani in Mathare after Covid shortages and restrictions, new opportunities open up
It is truly amazing and surprising how new opportunities emerge from unexpected limitations! The name Afya Mtaani means ‘local health’ or ‘road health’ in the Swahili language and hits the nail on the head.
Our idea for this type of public health care came up during the Corona crisis and has proven itself beyond this difficult time. The pandemic period is still ongoing, and we are doing all we can to continue saving lives.
At the height of the Covid crisis, we asked PBF for support for a medical mission that we want to do “door to door”. We have already reported on this on this website (https://bachmann-foundation.org/2021/10/26/afya-mtaani-clinic/ and https://bachmann-foundation.org/2021/09/22/september- 2021-kenya-nairobi-mathare-slum-pbf-clinic-serving-health).
In the meantime, we have continued to improve our operations in the slums of Nairobi, Mathare and Huruma, where we can offer our health services and counter some social prejudices.
PBF helped us to buy medical first aid kits, basic medical supplies, purchase medicines. Our team visited people very directly, from door to door, carried out elementary services, especially in the context of Covid prevention, conveyed a lot of trust and took away the fear of many people from getting advice and treatment in the health centers.
Later we received further support to purchase more medical equipment (e.g. hemogram and ultrasound). These are extremely helpful and necessary for various tests.
In serving the poor and sick, our pharmacy presents a very big challenge. It contributes significantly to the realization of our PBF vision. We can also store supplies here, which we can use immediately if necessary.
Here in our pharmacy, those responsible have set up uncomplicated access for consultations, treatments and referrals. Our catchment area is enormous. The population has little access to other local health services. That is why we have constantly expanded our field of work. Our patients also include those suffering from chronic and terminal illnesses such as diabetes, HIV and AIDS, hypertension, arthritis, asthma and cancer. We also provide at-risk mothers with prenatal, postnatal, and family planning services, among others
Our goal is to be more independent with the supplies in our pharmacy. We have gained many new patients through our sales offer. Our sales proposition and reliable professional services are increasingly valued by many. This boosts self-confidence. This is significant in an area that is also economically unstable and remains fraught with great risks. We ask PBF to take this situation into account, especially now that we are expanding our services. We pay rent, make very modest financial donations to staff and volunteers. We all appreciate PBF’s commitment to our work and thank you very much for it.
Eunice Abok
For the Afya Mtaani team