Kenya. A vast land of more than 52 million people and over 40 ethnic groups. A land of profound beauty with diverse terrain from coastal plains to deserts and highlands. A region where healthcare resources are often limited, yet nurses and other healthcare professionals and paraprofessionals provide capable, compassionate care in rural as well as urban areas.
“It was an inspiring visit. I had the privilege of seeing healthcare providers—nurses in particular—who had remarkable, sustained success with their patients despite having limited resources.”
Those were some of the observations made by Yale School of Nursing Dean Azita Emami after a recent visit to Kenya, where she met with nurses and midwives in small villages as well as with national healthcare and government officials.
“It was an inspiring visit. I had the privilege of seeing healthcare providers—nurses in particular—who had remarkable, sustained success with their patients despite having limited resources.” said Dean Emami “What they invariably did have was a deep understanding of the people they served and the optimal way of integrating modern medical knowledge with local cultural knowledge.”
Yale School of Nursing contributes to the broader Yale and Africa efforts to bring more of Africa to Yale and Yale to Africa through its long-standing partnerships in the region. These bidirectional and mutually beneficial partnerships continue to yield a steady increase in African students and scholars and Africa-focused research.
At the Kenyan Ministry of Health offices in Nairobi, Dean Emami met with the Ministry’s director general, Dr. Patrick Amoth, to get an overview of the country’s system for providing care in a geographically and demographically diverse landscapes.
Dr. Amoth leads Kenya’s healthcare delivery system, which provides healthcare to a population of more than 50 million people. He has also chaired the World Health Organization’s executive board.
Last year, Dr. Amoth and his colleagues created a program that placed 100,000 community health promoters as part of the country’s universal health coverage policy.
“I am excited about co-designing this type of collaboration with our partners in Kenya that will also include the community health promoters to be more connected with each other and with nurse-leaders and physicians who can provide additional support as needed.”
Dean Emami discussed with Dr. Amoth opportunities for extending a bilateral relationship that would include student and faculty exchanges involving governmental ministries, departments, associations or consortiums of hospital systems and nursing and healthcare professionals’ networks, creating new programming and research opportunities.
“I am excited about co-designing this type of collaboration with our partners in Kenya that will also include the community health promoters to be more connected with each other and with nurse-leaders and physicians who can provide additional support as needed.” said Asia Neupane, director of Global Affairs and Planetary Health who oversees YSN’s global programs and was part of the Yale delegation visit to Kenya.
The Ministry of Health is a strong partner for a YSN proposal to launch a broader collaboration with Kenyatta National Hospital—the largest hospital in East Africa with 1,800 beds and a staff of 6,000.
The hospital incorporates a school of nursing and a research center, serving students and patients from the entire Central and East African region. Dean Emami held discussions with the hospital’s leaders about ways in which YSN and Kenyatta National Hospital can collaborate to support the Kenyan healthcare system and those delivering care in the country’s rural areas.
The second part of YSN’s visit to Kenya led the delegation to the central region of Kenya in Samburu. There, the dean met with current and potential partners in the non-profit and financial sectors and traveled to Wamba County Hospital accompanied by the Hon. Pauline Lenguris, a member of the Kenyan parliament.
“What I saw at Wamba, and at other facilities throughout my trip, was health educators and providers who are deeply dedicated to their country and their people”
Dean Emami held listening sessions with Ecosystems, Finance, and Health (EFH), a new Africa-led initiative that is helping create opportunities by highlighting the complex interconnections between environment and health, and the ways in which targeted investment can be profitable in both economic and human terms. EFH enables the financial sector to invest in solutions that link ecosystems and food systems to the health of rural and urban populations. The dean shared about the need for nurses to be a visible, prominent force in providing primary care.
What I saw at Wamba, and at other facilities throughout my trip, was health educators and providers who are deeply dedicated to their country and their people,” said Dean Emami. “Despite being under-resourced, particularly in rural areas, there is an enviable record of safe birthing in Kenya. It made me reflect on the high rates of maternal and fetal deaths in many rural and tribal areas of the U.S., and how much childbirth in many places is a cultural rather than a medical event.”
“Collaboration is the key element in our partnerships with African nations,”
The dean’s visit also included meetings with the U.S. Embassy and Yale alumni and donors, including a reception hosted by the president of the Yale Club of Kenya, Cynthia Wandia (’09). Dean Emami presented on Yale’s broad efforts in neighboring countries, including the longstanding YSN partnership in Uganda on midwifery.
“Collaboration is the key element in our partnerships with African nations,” said Dean Emami. “Africa has a legacy of colonialism, of which there are still structural remnants. One of the greatest values of exchanges involving students and researchers is the ability of participants to be co-equal partners and can really see and understand a different system of healthcare. They gain insights into why a given system works—and why it sometimes doesn’t work.”
YSN’s initiative in Africa aims to co-design and launch research, funding and leadership opportunities for emerging and established nurses who want to advocate for change and shape health systems.
“My visit to Kenya was not just informative; it was transformative. Speaking with so many dedicated people in Kenya reinforced my belief that healthcare access is a global concern and that we have multiple opportunities to be a productive partner in global efforts focused on improving healthcare,” says the dean, “We need to share knowledge and start addressing ways to not only treat illness, but also encourage wellness. We need to educate nurses to have a global viewpoint and a global vision.”