AKUH to set up a heart and cancer centre in Kenya - 2010-01-20

2010, january 20: The Aga Khan University Hospital plans to set up a heart and cancer centre in Kenya by the end of the year. The centre, the first of its kind in the region, will provide medical treatment for heart ailments and cancers, the university's president, Mr Firoz Rasul, announced on Wednesday. This is only part of their expansion agenda, which Mr Rasul said, is expected to cost more than $700 million (Sh52.5 billion). Besides offering treatment, Mr Rasul said the centre would also train specialists in cardiac diseases and cancer. 'This expansion will directly impact on the services we offer the communities we serve and contribute to the development of the East African region,' he said. He was speaking during the sixth graduation ceremony of the university hospital, located in Parklands, Nairobi. Mr Rasul told the ceremony, which was presided over by Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka, that the project, will create 6,000 jobs for East Africans. During the occasion, 82 graduands were awarded degrees and diplomas. Mr Musyoka said that the government attached great importance to education as evidenced by the large budgetary allocation over the years.