The Ministry of Health has issued a statement following the death of an eight-week-old baby boy who died while admitted to a hospital due to heart complications.
The baby identified as Callum had been admitted at the Mater Hospital but the parents were yet to receive the Ksh500,000 overseas treatment benefit to alleviate the ksh1.8 million in total treatment cost.
Speaking on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, while giving a press briefing, the acting Social Health Authority CEO Robert Ingasira said that it was unfortunate that the baby had died.
“There is a second case of the baby which was brought to our attention later and in this case, it is unfortunate that we lost the baby,” Ingasira said.
SHA foreign treatment
“We just want to emphasize that SHA is supporting foreign treatment based on the tariffs we have. I would like to confirm that SHA, as part of the provisions, is meeting costs related to foreign treatment.”
The baby was born with a condition where his main artery supplying the blood was narrow and constricted. This state resulted in blood returning to the heart and lungs causing pulmonary pneumonia.
Initially, the baby’s father Kelly Kamau had revealed to the press that they had unsuccessfully managed to obtain the overseas treatment package despite visiting SHA headquarters more than once.
“We’ve gone to SHA’s headquarters twice, and they told us that the cover only supports public servants for overseas treatment,” Kamau narrated.
Baringo baby agony
Ingasira equally indicated that the Ministry had taken up the case of another baby in Mogotio, Baringo County and that the infant is currently receiving treatment in one of the hospitals in Nairobi.
“We were made aware of the case from Baringo and in that case, I would like to clarify that the baby has been traced together with the family and they are being attended to in one of our leading hospitals,” Ingasira noted.
In the Baringo case, the family had narrated to the press their agony after their daughter was born with a heart condition which required reconstructive surgery in India.
The family revealed that their hopes were for SHA to come through for them after depleting all the resources at their disposal including land and other property to cover their daughter’s treatment cost.
