CHS is marking five years of creating a world of healthy families through universal access to health interventions and services.
Inline with this commitment, and as part of a series of activities to mark the five year anniversary, CHS staff visited Nyumbani Children’s Home in Karen. #FiveYearsandGivingBack
The Home, which boasts as Kenya’s first and largest facility for children orphaned by HIV as well as those living with HIV enables the children to receive the best medical, nutritional, academic and holistic care possible with the goal of building self-reliant members of society when they ‘graduate’ from the Home. Nyumbani is home to 120 children that are provided with shelter, livelihoods and all-round support well into their adult years.
Nyumbani’s Chief Manager, Mr Protus Lumiti and Executive Director Sister Mary Owens were at hand to welcome the CHS team and give them a tour of the home and the Nyumbani Diagnostic Laboratory.
The pre-school children present at the home enjoyed food, drinks, games and in-kind donations from the CHS team, who spent the entire day with them.
Working with the National Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Lung Disease Program through the USAID funded Tuberculosis Accelerated Response and Care (TB ARC) activity, CHS recently supported the installation of the WHO recommended TB diagnostic technology (GeneXpert).
GeneXpert is a molecular test for TB which diagnoses TB by detecting the presence of TB bacteria, as well as testing for resistance to the drug Rifampicin used in treatment of TB. Traditionally, TB has been diagnosed by looking for evidence of TB bacteria either through the use of the chest X-ray, through sputum smear microscopy, or through the culturing of bacteria.
Diagnosing TB in children is difficult as children are less likely to have obvious symptoms of TB, and samples such as sputum are more difficult to collect from young children. The GeneXpert test will make it easier to diagnose TB in children ensuring that they receive high quality care and treatment services.