Before the 1990s, very little cardiac work was being done in Kenya due to scarcity of trained personnel and the high cost of surgery. Upon this realization, Mater Hospital set up a Cardiac Programme in 1995.

The Programme is positioned to cater for the needs of children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, suffering from both congenital and acquired heart disease. Sadly, 50% of children aged between 4 and 8 years seen at the Cardiology Clinics suffer from rheumatic heart disease, subsequent to rheumatic fever that originated from a simple sore throat.

We at the Mater Hospital place great importance on the prevention of rheumatic heart disease to which end, we hold various awareness campaigns to sensitize the public about the illness. Last year over 30,000 school children were sensitized. 7,000 of these were screened to determine their cardiac condition. A neglected or inadequately treated sore throat could lead to severe damage of the heart valves with serious consequences? These children often require surgery to repair or replace the damaged valves at an estimated cost of 600,000/- a figure that is obviously out of reach for majority of Kenyans. We believe that prevention is better than cure.

The programme operates a separate account i.e Mater Hospital Heart Fund Account, which is audited annually and findings made available to sponsors and other interested parties. 100% of funds collected from donors go directly towards treatment of the children.

Mater Hospital contributes to the programme by providing free administrative services, nursing services and basic clinical services.

Collaborations
Since the beginning, Mater has partnered with several benefactors. From 2001 our key partner has been Terres des Hommes Netherlands, a Dutch NGO with a mission of helping poor children with life threatening diseases. We partner with “Chain of Hope” in the United Kingdom founded by Prof. (Sir) Magdi Yacoub, a world renowned Cardiac Surgeon. Sir Magdi and his team perform complex open-heart surgeries and Cardiac Catheterizations at Mater during charity missions they organize every year. Dr. Hani Hennein from Rainbow Childrens’ Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio also carries out charity missions at Mater Hospital. Sir Magdi and Prof. Heinnein’s teams work in conjunction with our Kenyan Surgeons and Cardiologists leading to good exchange of knowledge and transfer of skills. We have continuously received support from corporates and individuals in Kenya through the sponsorship of the Mater Heart Run, an annual event that raises funds for the Mater Cardiac Program.  We appreciate all our partners.

Donations can be made to:

The Mater Hospital - Heart Fund, NIC Bank Limited, NIC House - Masaba road
Account Number: ICA 1-110-000400

Cheques can be addressed to the Mater Hospital Heart Fund and hand delivered or mailed to The Mater Hospital Heart Programme Coordinator, P. O. Box 30325, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya.

For further information on the Mater Cardiac Program, please contact Susan Gachathi the Programme Coordinator on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it