Fears of shortages of medical supplies and equipment continue to grip the Kenyan government and its citizens as COVID-19 pandemic slowly expands in the country. Cabinet Secretary for Health Mutahi Kagwe has always warned Kenyans that the number of cases could rise exponentially and that there was a need to tighten containment measures to ensure this does not occur considering the limited resources we have in the country. The World Health Organization has called on governments and industries around the world to ramp up the production of medical equipment needed to mitigate this crisis.
Today a group of sixteen students from the faculties of Biomedical Engineering, Electrical, Pharmacy, Medicine, and Nursing at Kenyatta University has been lauded for their innovation of ventilators. The students say they were inspired by the country’s dire need of ventilators and after seven days working at the Chandaria Business Innovation and Incubation Centre, they successfully invented the TZBA-VENT, a mechanical ventilator under the patronage of the institution’s engineering faculty dean Dr Shadrack Mambo and Nicholas Gikonyo, a professor of pharmacognosy and traditional medicine.
“TZBA-VENT is a mechanical ventilator which has a blender inside for mixing oxygen and medical air. Remember we need to vary the concentration of oxygen going to the patient ranging from 21% or what is in the air up to 100% of what we can supply with the oxygen tank,” said Bernard Karanja, a fifth-year student in the School of Pharmacy.
“They are blended here so that we get the saturation that we need. It comes from the inspiration valve going to the circuit, goes to the patient then the expiration goes back to where it is filtered before it is released to the environment,” added Karanja while demonstrating how the ventilator works on Citizen TV live.
Although the students’ innovation is still a preliminary version, their courage, and determination that the device will work remained unmatched and have since been visited by Cabinet Secretary for Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development, Mrs. Betty Maina who acknowledged their invention. The university says they can produce 50 ventilators per week at KSh500,000 using locally-sourced materials and has applied for a patent for the project at the Kenya Industrial Property Institute. Other local businesses and manufacturers especially the small scale have stepped up efforts to assist the country to combat the coronavirus by producing critical non-pharmaceutical equipment. Textile industries are now working round the clock to manufacture face masks.
Shortages of ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE)—gloves, medical masks, respirators, goggles, face shields, gowns, and aprons poses a serious danger and leave the healthcare workers unprepared to handle the COVID-19 situation. Yesterday, Kenya received the China Southern Airlines cargo plane which arrived with a donation of 18 tonnes of protective gear from Chinese companies. Kenya has so far confirmed a total of 191 cases, 7 deaths, and 24 recoveries. The death rate stands at 3.66% and the infection rate is at 2.9%.
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