SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON.

UHURU KENYATTA, PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA, AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE CHANDARIA MEDICAL CENTRE, GERTRUDES CHILDRENS HOSPITAL, MUTHAIGA, 1 ST NOVEMBER 2013 Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to join you today at this important function to inaugurate the Chandaria Medical Centre. It is a joy for me to once again pay a visit to the Gertrudes Childrens Hospital. I recall with appreciation the warmth with which I was received when, in the year !!!, as a friend of the Hospital, I had the privilege to officially open the "ean #ard. #e are here $ecause of the generosity of one man who truly $elieves in promoting the welfare of all %enyan people. &his man is 'r. Manu Chandaria, who has $een (nown to me and my family for many years through his wor( as an industrialist and philanthropist. I am informed that 'r. Manu Chandaria, through the Chandaria )oundation, gave a donation of %sh.*!! million to Gertrudes Childrens Hospital for enhancement of the intensive care and diagnostic services. &he money has $een used in the construction and installation of e+uipment in the newly constructed medical centre, which, I understand is now operational. &he facility, which cost %sh.,-!million to construct and e+uip, is a great milestone towards the Gertrudes Hospitals aspiration to $ecome a regional centre of e.cellence in paediatrics. Ladies and Gentlemen, Gertrudes Childrens Hospital is one of the most recognised paediatric hospitals in /ast and Central 0frica. &he hospital serves children from 1airo$i and gets referrals from all over %enya and from the neigh$ouring countries including 2ganda, &an3ania, 'emocratic 4epu$lic of Congo, 4wanda and 5urundi. 6outh 6udan, 0fricas youngest repu$lic, has now joined that list. I salute the 5oard of &rustees and Management of Gerturdes Children Hospital for doing us pride. &his facility will go a long way in complementing my Governments efforts in promoting medical tourism, one of the flagship programmes of 7ision !8!. 9ur goal as a Government is to ma(e %enya, and, 1airo$i in particular, a medical hu$ where patients from within and outside our $orders can get high +uality and afforda$le medical treatment.

Ladies and Gentlemen, 0s you are aware, one of the cardinal promises our forefathers made, after li$erating our country, was to con+uer disease. &his they did $ecause they understood well the close connection $etween a healthy population and economic growth, +uality of life and poverty reduction. &owards this o$jective of con+uering disease, the Government has made a lot of investment in healthcare infrastructure and in conse+uence we have made significant achievements in all indicators of a healthy population. #e however still have challenges that re+uire our action as a Government. It is in this conte.t that my Government has made a commitment to improve maternal and child health care in order to significantly reduce, if not to fully eliminate, the currently high maternal and infant mortality rates. I commend Gertrudes Children Hospital for what you are doing to assist in particular, our poor people, access this important healthcare service. :ou attend to a large num$er of children as outpatients every day. Moreover, I understand, you offer immuni3ation services at your ten clinics within 1airo$i and its su$ur$s as well as outreach programmes in near$y slums where you offer free services. &his gesture must $e commended. Hongera. Ladies and Gentlemen, #hile we are doing everything possi$le to con+uer diseases and therefore elongate the lives of our people, we (now we have other challenges that are negating our efforts in this conte.t. #hat I have in mind is the increased cases of road accidents ta(ing away lives of our people and in particular our children. 0s we improve our roads networ(, special attention must now $e made on road safety $oth at the policy and design stages of new roads to ensure we avoid unnecessary loss of lives. In this regard, I applaud the initiative $y the hospital to play a greater role in the advocacy for improved road safety. :ou have my Governments support. &he accident in 1airo$i this wee(, which (illed at least a do3en people, was a star( reminder that more needs to $e done to improve road safety. It was also a reminder that we need good medical facilities to manage these emergencies. Ladies and Gentlemen, Let me reiterate the pledges my 0dministration is committed to in improving the health and welfare of our people. #e have said that we want to achieve free primary healthcare for all %enyans, starting with women, e.pectant mothers, $reastfeeding mothers and persons with disa$ilities. &o achieve these goals, we are committed to increasing the num$er of physical facilities at the community level and increase mo$ile health clinic services. #e want

to have at least one level;five hospital in each of the ,< Counties in the country and one level;four hospital in every su$;county in the country. )urther, my Government is in the process of restructuring the 1ational Hospital Insurance )und with the aim of providing universal medical cover to our people. #e also want to improve the s(ills of our health wor(ers in line with our strategy to ma(e %enya a medical hu$ of choice. &hat means that we will continue to support academic and practical training to nurses, doctors and other health professionals. &o complement Government in this endeavour, I urge all players in the sector to also support training of doctors and other healthcare wor(ers to ensure we achieve this no$le goal. Ladies and Gentlemen, #ith these remar(s it is now my great pleasure to declare the Chandaria Medical Centre at Gertrudes Childrens Hospital, officially open. I t !"# $%& '%( $%&( #)"* !tt+"t)%" !"* G%* ,-+.. $%& !--.