NAIROBI, KENYA: The annual Mater Heart Run was held in Nairobi on Saturday, raising hope for children from poor and needy backgrounds with heart complications.
This year’s event targeted to raise over Sh110 million up from Sh96 million realised last year, to cater for heart surgery operations to at least 250 children countrywide.
The funds will also be used in screening over 21,000 other children with heart conditions, according to Mater Hospital Chief Executive Officer Agnes Chege.
“The funds exclusively cater for children with heart conditions from poor and needy backgrounds that they were either born with (congenital) or acquired (rheumatic),” she said.
Speaking at the event, Dr Chege said their vision is by 2020, the charity event will be held in all the 47 counties.
On average, heart surgery costs Sh500,000, which a majority of families cannot afford.
“The money we raise today will ensure that poor families will supplement the cost to have their children undergo heart surgery. Part of the funds will also be used to offer free outreach screening camps all over the and to educate communities about acquired heart diseases,” added Chege.
Standard Media Group CEO Sam Shollei, who was the chief guest, challenged corporate organisations to come out and support charity programmes, noting that supporting the needy ‘should not be a preserve of a few privileged individuals’.
Mr Shollei said children had played a large part in the success of the previous events and urged adults to follow suit. “Children have contributed almost half of the amount raised in the previous events. I challenge the rest of us to do more to support this noble initiative,” he said.
He also pledged that the Standard Group will cater for the medical bills of Melvin Munene, a-one and-half-year-old child with a heart condition.
Huge milestone
Shollei at the same time commended the Government for the improved healthcare system in the country, particularly the introduction of free maternity, which he termed a milestone.
He, however, observed that State agencies could still do better to improve the healthcare system, especially in rural areas where poor infrastructure, long distance to health facilities, insecurity and illiteracy challenges exist.
“The Government and other stakeholders ought to provide efficient, integrated and high quality affordable health care to all citizens. Priority should be given to preventive care at community and household levels, through a decentralised national health-care system,” he added.
This is the fourth year running that the Standard Group has partnered with The Mater Hospital to raise funds towards the complex heart surgeries carried out on needy children every year.
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The group was the official media sponsor of the event and pumped in Sh7 million worth of advertising in all its media platforms. It was the only media house that covered the event live.
Other main corporate sponsors of this year’s event included Safaricom Limited, Capital FM, Terre Des Hommes, and Kings Collections Limited, G4S, Nairobi and Machakos county governments, Heritage Insurance, Standard Chartered Bank, Parapet Cleaning among many others.
A number of schools from Nairobi also participated. Other events were held simultaneously in Mombasa, Mumias, Machakos and Kisumu.
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