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NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 16 – The Aga Khan hospitals in East Africa have received a Sh290 million grant from Proparco, the private sector financing arm of AFD Group, the French Development Agency to increase access to health care services by boosting oxygen supply and supporting needy patients with quality care.

The grant will benefit the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi and the Aga Khan Hospitals in Mombasa, Kisumu and Dar-es-Salaam including ninety-four outreach and medical centres of the Aga Khan Health Services in Kenya and Tanzania.

The project will provide financial support to scale up oxygen supply and critical care capacity in Mombasa and Kisumu counties.

“Cooperation in the health sector is a strong pillar of the French-Kenyan relations and a key component of the partnership between European and African countries, which will be celebrated this week at the European Union-African Union Summit,” the French Ambassador to Kenya Aline Kuster-Ménager said.

“I am very happy to witness today yet another example of the fruitful cooperation between the AFD Group and the Aga Khan Development Network to build more inclusive and resilient health systems in Kenya and Tanzania.”

It will further support the welfare funds run by the Aga Khan hospitals and outreach and medical centres that enables qualifying needy patients access quality care at no cost.

“Through a shared commitment to improve access to quality healthcare, AFD Group and the Aga Khan Development Network have grown to become strong, like-minded partners. The €2.3 million subsidy granted today to the Aga Khan hospitals and outreach centres in East Africa further demonstrates our determination to help both health systems and patients tackle the covid-19 crisis,” said Jean-Benoît du Chalard, Proparco’s Regional Director for Eastern Africa.

While speaking during the signing ceremony, Aga Khan University President Sulaiman Shahabuddin said that “Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, The Aga Khan Hospitals in East Africa have been at the forefront of the response, playing a primary role in supporting the testing, treatment and prevention of Covid-19, while also ensuring that our regular patients receive their routine care in a safe manner.”

“The pandemic has however strained the healthcare infrastructure and especially critical care units and oxygen supply. This grant will go a long way in building capacity in these two areas and enable us provide timely and quality care.”

This grant was made possible by funds allocated to Proparco by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs.

It contributes to AFD Group’s Health in Common initiative designed to help health systems in developing and emerging countries better cope with the Covid-19 crisis.

The Health in Common initiative is closely linked to the WHO-led multilateral ACT-A response and is implemented in a #TeamEurope approach.