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“The Director General KEMRI, Dr Yeri Kombe, the chair of the KEMRI board subcommittee for this project Dr Lazarus Tanui, Dr Kizito Lubano, Mr Musau and the entire KEMRI Team, Ministry of Health officials present, colleagues from Mandera County Assembly, distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, Asalaam Aleikum…
I am glad to commission the construction of KEMRI Centre for Disease Control through a partnership which will provide an opportunity to network and advance a shared research agenda that would inform and compliment mandates of policy makers, Mandera County Government, local leaders and researchers.
From the outset, let me reiterate our commitment to this venture by announcing that Mandera County Government will inject Kshs500million in the 2018-2019 budget besides donating 100 acres of land whose instruments of ownership have been handed over to KEMRI.
Over time, KEMRI has earned distinction by partnering with renowned research institutions among them Centres for Disease Control, Walter Reed Project, centre will benefit Kenya and the entire Horn of Africa region in several ways. We look forward to KEMRI’s drive in promoting skills transfer and capacity-building among laboratory scientists.
We are a pastoralist community and our quest is to mitigate against effects of risks of health originating from interface between humans and animals we seek partners to implement one health approach and KEMRI is a natural partner to collaborate with going forward.
It is envisaged that through Vision 2030, affordable access to health care for all will come through the provision of a robust health infrastructure network, improving the quality of health service delivery to the highest standards for all the Kenyans, through enhanced partnerships with the private sector; as well as providing access to those excluded from health care for financial or other reasons. The launch of such a partnership is long overdue.
We welcome the spirit of partnerships and collaborations as one key strategy that was in the MDG and now in the SDG #17. This we pursue with clear emphasis on community participation and engagement at all stages.
More importantly we hope that with research in climate change era, we can make our people more resilient to the negative effects with sound mitigation measures.
With Mandera positioned at a strategic border with Somalia and its challenges, and Ethiopia too, our international scientific advisors have strongly recommended that Mandera invest in clinical research to close this gap between bench and bed and develop more effective prevention and control strategies.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me remind us that there has been the historical relationship between Mandera and KEMRI though on smaller scale when KEMRI was involved on outbreak investigations especially emerging diseases like Dengue, Chikungunya, diseases among others. We seek to deepen this relationship in a more structured way.
Mandera County Government has decided to partner in this project with KEMRI owing to its globally recognised reputation to lay a strong foundation for biomedical research and derive full value from our distinguished researchers.
This partnership with KEMRI will strengthen laboratory workforce development as part of the commitment to achieve Sustainable Development Goals for health through targeted training programmes.
Strong clinical research environment will support our emphasis on an evidence-based approach to healthcare. As we strive to achieve universal healthcare for all, I have no doubt it will result in major cost savings must come from applying knowledge to improve and transform the practice of medicine.
Clinical research will help us grow our medical capabilities, stay ahead of our competitors, and position our status as a regional medical hub. Increasingly, our competitive edge in healthcare has to be based on better knowledge and stronger skills, grounded on scientific research.
With Mandera Kenya Medical Training College, a referral and Teaching Hospital complete with two Accident and Emergency Centres in the KEMRI Centre for Community Directed Research could not have come at a better time. We want the
Research institution closely linked to our hospitals, the proposed Veterinary laboratory and training centre for maximum benefit.
Such integrated set ups make it easier for clinicians and researchers to collaborate across disciplines, and across hospital-school lines. And that is our dream.
More than ever before Mandera County Government is putting systems and key enablers in place to create a more integrated environment.
The building blocks are now in place, but there is still a lot of work to be done. The road ahead will not be easy, and there will no doubt be teething problems along the way. But amidst these challenges lie great opportunities and endless possibilities.
Let us build on our progress so far, and take our clinical research efforts to the next level. With our combined efforts, we can all look forward to an efficient and world-class healthcare system in Mandera, Kenya and the Horn of Africa."
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