The Nairobi West Hospital College of Health Sciences has launched the first Bone Marrow Transplant short course to educate and up-skill medical and clinical professionals on BMT.
The hospital launched the first Bone Marrow Transplant Department in Kenya in October 2022.
It provides a broad range of integrated and patient-centric services for the diagnosis and management of all kinds of blood disorders in adults and children, including cancers of the blood.
The Nairobi West Hospital College of Health Sciences principal Dr Fatuma Affey explained the importance of the course in providing medical and clinical workers with training opportunities including, case studies, self-measurement and evaluation tools and consequently contribute to the improvement of patient care and patient safety in the long-term, especially when it comes to bone marrow transplant patients.
Affey spoke during the introduction of the course.
A bone marrow/stem cell transplant is a medical procedure by which healthy stem cells are transplanted into your bone marrow or blood.
This restores your body’s ability to create the red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets it needs.
Speaking to the Star, Dr Kibet Shikuku, Head Pathologist, at The Nairobi West Hospital said that BMT nurses and clinical care providers need vocational information, guidance and up-skilling.
“Most of the diseases that are treated with bone marrow transplantation require special nursing care and medical interventions in terms of age, nutrition, neurological development and general condition of the patient during pre-implantation, transplantation and post-transplantation periods. Proper patient care for such a crucial procedure has great importance in the success of transplantation,” Dr. Kibet said.
“However, despite the training needs of BMT nurses, unfortunately, there are very few and inadequate guiding materials available in the country. That is why such a course is a great step into filling the knowledge gap regarding BMT patient care.”
Based on the need for such knowledge, The Nairobi West Hospital of College Sciences will conduct a short course from February 2024, to upskill health workers on all things bone marrow transplantation for Sh30,000.
After the five-day training course, participants will have earned CPD points.
The Nairobi West Hospital of College Sciences becomes the first hospital to offer the service.
The overall aim of the project is to ensure that overall care in the bone marrow transplantation field is the most efficient and supportive to maintain the success rates in bone marrow transplantation procedures and post-transplantation care and consequently contribute positively to public health.
Dr Kibet also urged patients with life-threatening conditions such as leukaemia, sickle cell disease and Cancer to try treating with bone marrow transplants in the country as the cost is lower than travelling out of the country.
He said the first-ever BMT unit in the country has so far managed to do two successful transplants since the launch in October 2022 and is planning another set of 4.
