Mombasa,KENYA:Patients who suffer from Hemophilia disease in coastal Kenya, have a reason to smile after the Novo Nordisk Haemophilia Foundation, a Swiss non-profit organisation, teamed up with Kenya Hemophilia Association, in their efforts to revamp a Hemophilia clinic based at the Coast Provincial General Hospital(CPGH) that is set to be re-opened before the end of the week.
Speaking during the world Hemophilia Day, that was celebrated on Sunday in Mombasa county at the CPGH Dr. Shem Pata, medical director at CPGH said that the clinic will enable many patients to access medical services.
“We are happy that patients will receive medicine for free and this is good news to patients because its quite expensive. This clinic will ensure that we will give medical services to Hemophilia patients.” He said.
The clinic is set to ensure that all patients who are hemophiliac are referred to the center which is well equipped with specialized equipment unlike currently where they are treated at the general unit of the hospital.
Hemophilia is a bleeding disorder which affects people who do not have enough clotting factor VIII or IX in their blood. As a result, they can bleed for longer than normal.
Statistics from the Coast general and provincial hospital estimates that more than 30 hemophiliac patients visit the hospital daily for medication.
James Kago, 34 years old, is Hemophiliac applauded the efforts to open the hemophiliac clinic saying that it would ease the burden of many patients with blood disorders who will get access to the facility thus reducing their expenses of traveling outside Coast region for medication.
According to Kenya Hemophilia Association, approximately eight thousand people in the country suffer from Hemophilia.
Profesor Karanja Njoroge, the chairman Kenya Hemophilia Association urged the public to stop stigmatizing Hemophiliac patients and instead ensure that they are taken to hospital to receive medical attention.
“ Our effort is to try reach the families and public who know patients who may be suffering from bleeding disorders in silence , so that we can use them to reach those suffering in silence. They are there, occasionally you will hear a person who had an accident and died of bleeding, chances are they were Hemophiliac”. He said.
