KGHP’s partnership in Kenya builds on a long history of collaboration between King’s and Kenyan institutions. These include the Africa Leadership Centre, run jointly with the University of Nairobi, and collaborative research spanning health leadership and community-based prevention of non-communicable diseases. King’s is an active member of the Kenya-UK Health Alliance (KUKHA), and KGHP is working with the Ministry of Health to explore where it can contribute most strategically in the years ahead.
Our current programme of work focuses on vascular disease. It grew out of an advanced fellowship undertaken by a Kenyan surgeon at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, and was established in 2022 in response to the growing burden of peripheral arterial disease, chronic limb-threatening ischaemia (CLTI), and diabetes-related amputations in Kenya and the wider sub-Saharan African region.
We work with Kenyan hospitals, professional bodies, and training institutions to improve the recognition and management of vascular disease. The work initially focused on training surgeons to recognise and manage CLTI, with an emphasis on approaches that could improve care without requiring fully trained vascular sub-specialists or major infrastructure investment. It has since expanded to include multidisciplinary team training, diabetic foot care, endovascular skills, and broader institutional partnerships.
Looking ahead, we hope to develop a broader programme of cardiovascular health system strengthening, covering earlier diagnosis, improved referral pathways, enhanced hospital-based care, multidisciplinary team-based training, better rehabilitation facilities, and further research and evaluation.