The Mater CCC opened on October 2nd, 2006 to respond to the need for HIV/AIDS treatment and care for the residents of the Mukuru Slums, South B, South C and Nairobi West areas of Nairobi City.  These are the surrounding neighbourhoods of The Mater Hospital and many of the residents there are poor and may be unable to pay for basic medical care, not to mention ARV medicine.  The CCC clinic is funded by PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), a US Government initiative, to counteract the devastation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  All care and treatment provided in Mater CCC is free to patients. 

The Sisters of Mercy undertook to manage the clinic in cooperation with CRS (Catholic Relief Services) as a way to reach out to the impoverished and HIV/AIDS infected people in the area.  CRS supervises the funding and administration of the clinic and provides ongoing professional development for the staff.  The clinic has 13 staff members and currently serves 1500 registered patients. 

Besides providing care and treatment at the clinic, the MCCC has two community nurses who visit the catchment areas on a daily basis.  They visit patients in their homes, train and work with Community Volunteers and coordinate support groups for people living with HIV/AIDS.  Currently these nurses work with the community based support groups on a weekly basis.  Volunteers visit patients in need of attention when nurses are not available.  The Mukuru Promotion Centre trains volunteers in community health and the clinic provides training specific to its community health plan.    A clinic nurse and a counselor also coordinate a Professional Support Group once a month.

Another aspect of the MCCC is education regarding living with HIV/AIDS.  On a bi-monthly basis, a TPS (Treatment Preparation Seminar) is conducted for new patients and family members.  In these seminars patients learn about healthy living and the implications of taking antiretroviral drugs (ARV’s).  

The Mater CCC is also involved in a research project with PharmAcess of the Netherlands. This is an EU funded project involving 10 countries in Africa and The Mater Hospital is one of two sites in Kenya.  The research is looking into resistance to ARV drugs. It is a 3 year project which began at The Mater in 2007 and 240 patients will be involved. 

In 2008 CRS, at our request, approved that we carry out PAP Smears on all adult female patients attending the CCC. This is an effort to enhance care of vulnerable women, as it is a well known fact that cervical cancer is more prevalent in the immuno-compromised.  When the PAP smear result shows an abnormality, there are no funds to do further tests or treatment and so we are constrained to refer such patients to a public hospital where unfortunately, many such women are not properly followed up. The long-term consequences of this can be extremely serious for the patient.

PEPFAR limits HIV/AIDS treatment to an outpatient service only. There is no funding for short term hospitalization or in-depth medical investigations for problems related to ARV resistance or complications arising despite good outpatient follow-up. In 2007 the Sisters of Mercy gave a once off funding for such short term hospitalization and investigative testing.  Unfortunately this fund is now completely spent. Women and children are most vulnerable in the HIV/AIDS pandemic and in fact they together comprise more than 75% of our clients. With proper antenatal care and safe delivery the risks of vertical transmission (to the baby) can be decreased significantly.

The Mater CCC hopes to find supplementary funding for such care beyond the little provided by the Sisters of Mercy. This would enable us to carry out medical investigations at the Mater Hospital and provide short term hospitalization for women and children who do not respond to the usual care and treatment provided at the clinic. Regular feedback on the actual patients helped and how the money is used can be given to donors if required.  Such funding would greatly enhance the level of care for The Mater CCC patients.