Equity Afia: Your Caring Health Partner

By George Marenya

You may assume, and you are not alone, that a doctor is the guy or lady who sits mostly donning a white over-coat, hoping that you get sick and pay him a visit. So it is not a surprise that Dr. Antony Kinyanjui, with his insistence on preventative care, may somewhat surprise you. In fact, your protests that you walk every day and therefore you “exercise” a lot will not let you off the hook with Dr. Kinyanjui.

He describes exercise as: “30 minutes of intense activity that must culminate into a discernible degree of sweating.” Talk of no pain, no gain taken to a whole new level. In fact, when I met him at his Equity Afia Clinic in Kayole, Nairobi he was talking very enthusiastically about upcoming meetings with key organizations on healthy living. He had just finished a similar programme with many other company employees and was looking forward to going back to discuss with them results of various medical check-ups.

The clinic itself turned out to be a very spacious affair encompassing sixteen different medical units to cater for all needs except in-patient facilities. For good measure, there is a fully equipped emergency room and facilities to cater for the disabled. At any given time, the clinic has a capacity for three or more doctors and a host of support staff with well-furnished offices from where to attend to patients.

Then again with prior arrangements, you will be attended to by a consultant be it a pediatrician, gynecologist, surgeon, nutritionist, psychologist, psychiatrist or a physiotherapist. Whole-hearted service comes naturally for Dr. Kinyanjui seeing as he himself was once a beneficiary of Wings to Fly and Equity Leaders Programmes.
After graduating from University, he worked as a medical intern at Nyahururu District Hospital. He then moved to Engineer District Hospital as medical supretendant before proceeding to Sweden for a Masters degree in Health Economics, Policy and Health Care Management. He thereafter had short stints at Agha Khan Hospital in Meru and a private Hospital in Nyahururu. It is this wealth of experience that he has brought in as the owner of Equity Afya Clinics in Kayole and Buruburu in Nairobi.

He says it is his turn to give back to society which has been generous to him throughout his time as a student in high school and through university. His vision is: “To give high quality healthcare at an affordable rate.” He observes that people may live a stone throw away from high quality health care without being able to afford it. If a mother walks into his clinic and has her child immunized and a second one dewormed before going back home, that is what a good day means to Dr. Kinyanjui. That way, he shall have lived up to the general Equity mantra of transforming livelihoods, one life or family at a time.

Some of the facilities at an Afia Clinic include : staff locker room ( complete with changing rooms and toilets), a store, administration offices, kitchen/dining room, server room for data storage with power facilities, waste room, aeration duct for sucking out air to ensure an ever fresh environment and a dental clinic flooded with natural light complete with a waiting area. Moreover, an Afia Clinic has: an ultrasound machine, immunization room with a fridge for keeping vaccines safe, triage- where your temperature, weight and blood pressure is taken, pharmacy that is well stocked with medicine, an emergency room complete with a stretcher and an oxygen concentrator and a reception area comfortable enough and well ventilated for the comfort of waiting persons. Just like Dr. Kinyanjui believes and lives his dream of providing the best medical services, Equity Afia Clinic also provides the best.

Equity Afia was formed to respond to the growing need of affordable and accessible quality healthcare. Currently, the alumni of Equity Leaders Programme and Wings to Fly Scholarship Programme who are qualified health professionals are using their health expertise to run the clinics and as such, transform lives and livelihoods of Kenyans.

Closing the health gap in Africa within a generation is achievable if opportunities afforded by a rapidly growing workforce are seized. Equity Group is doing just that through their Equity Afia initiative. Equity Afia is an initiative by a group of medical providers who have come together with the aim of providing high quality, affordable and accessible healthcare to all Kenyans.
Equity Afia was formed to respond to the growing need of affordable and accessible quality healthcare. Currently, the alumni of Equity Leaders Programme and Wings to Fly Scholarship Programme who are qualified health professionals are using their health expertise to transform lives and livelihoods of Kenyans.

What services do they offer that set them apart?
Equity Afia facilities offer high quality and affordable health care. Their clinical and support teams are very friendly and listen to their clients’ journey towards health restoration and preventative healthcare solutions. They believe health promotion is a partnership between the clinician and the patient that works best when there is good communication between the two parties. Their facilities are open to all Kenyans regardless of socio-economic status and background care is provided for the whole family.

Preventative or Curative Health
Equity Afia manages both curative and preventative health care services and are now increasingly emphasizing on preventive care services. Preventative healthcare services include integrated immunization services, screening for chronic diseases including cancer as well as structured free health talks on various lifestyle diseases in the work place, churches and other organized gatherings and communities. Screening for chronic diseases such as Pap smear for cervical cancer, diabetes and other subsidized cost to ensure maximal impact in the community.
They offer comprehensive outpatient care for the whole family. Their services include consultation by their doctors, a wide range of outpatient procedures and a modern laboratory tests and well-stocked in-house pharmacies.
Further, in-house specialists such as pediatricians, gynecologists, obstetricians, ENT services, physicians, nutritionists, physiotherapists, antenatal and well-baby clinics are accessible in these clinics. Equity Afia is in the process of introducing medical imaging services such as ultra sounds and x-rays as well as dental services and have integrated their services to offer comprehensive care and antiretroviral medication to their HIV positive patients in a confidential manner.
Preventative healthcare services offered include integrated immunization services, screening for chronic diseases including cancer as well as structured free health talks on various lifestyle diseases.
Equity Afia as the name suggests, believes that everyone should access quality healthcare regardless of their socioeconomic status. For patients to achieve access, they have adopted a very affordable pricing structure for their quality services and drugs with outpatient consultation with a medical doctor starting from Kshs. 500, screening for chronic diseases such as Pap smear for cervical cancer, diabetes and other chronic diseases are done at very affordable rates as well.

Target Market (Age Wise and other demographics)
Equity Afia believes in the well being of the whole family and as such provides preventative and curative services to men, women and children. They are also targeting all clients in need of health care services in both urban and pre-urban areas who are in formal and informal employment who access healthcare services either out of pocket, under the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), under in-house schemes by companies or through medical insurance companies.
Their team includes qualified medical officers, nurses, pharmaceutical and laboratory technologists and sonographers who offer superior patient management services. They are supported by a team of front office and back office personnel who work tirelessly to ensure the comfort of their clients as they go through the various service points. Further, they have pediatricians, gynecologists, obstetricians, ENT specialists, physicians, nutritionists, physiotherapists and general surgeons who offer specialist services.

Hurdles along the way
The challenge that they encounter is the wellness seeking behaviour of the general population. Most clients visit their health facilities when they are unwell for conditions that they would have been able to prevent had they visited the facilities earlier. They have hence adopted a preventive approach to health care access.
Location
All the locations of their clinics are chosen with the client in mind. They have set up their clinics in locations where clients can easily access ( either by public means or private means) and which are visible.
Equity Afia ensures that the locations of their clinics within the buildings are easily accessible by their clients who may not be in their best of health. As such, they are located on lower floors in buildings with both ramp and lift access options. They are currently located in the following locations:

ONGATA RONGAI
Siron House
Magadi Road
Tel: 0765 00001

BURUBURU
The Point Mall,
Rabai Road
Tel: 0765 000002

KAYOLE
Pinnacle Business
Centre, Kayole
Spine Road
0765 000003

KAWANGWARE
Alingo Plaza,
Naivasha Road
0765 000004

THIKA
80 West Building,
Kenyatta Highway
0765 000005