Kenya: Over 400 Children Receive Free Heart Surgery Through Nairobi Hospital Charity Fund

What the report says

The Nairobi Hospital says its Children’s Charity Heart Fund has helped more than 400 children receive free, life-saving heart surgery over the years, according to a report from Capital FM distributed by AllAfrica. The latest fundraising effort was the 2026 Children’s Charity Heart Fund Golf Tournament, held on Friday at Karen Country Club in Nairobi, where corporate partners, sponsors, golfers, philanthropists and members of the public gathered to raise money for children from disadvantaged families needing specialised cardiac care.

Hospital chief executive Felix Osano said the fundraiser is meant to cover costs that families often cannot manage, including diagnostics, operating theatre time and specialist treatment. He said many children arrive after their families have already spent their resources trying to secure care. The hospital’s board chairman, Dr. Barcley Onyambu, said the initiative reflects a duty to ensure that ability to pay does not determine access to specialised healthcare.

The article places the effort in the wider context of Kenya’s shortage of paediatric cardiac capacity. It notes that thousands of children are believed to need heart surgery each year, while only a limited number receive treatment because specialist staff and facilities are scarce. More broadly, the fundraiser shows how hospitals in the region increasingly rely on philanthropy and public-private partnerships to fill gaps in access to expensive, complex medical care.