By K. Richard Douglas
Home to the African elephant, the East African lion, the Cape buffalo and the black rhinoceros, the country of Kenya, on Africa’s east coast, offers endless vistas within its national park and game reserves. The country sits on the Indian Ocean and borders Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia and South Sudan.
A place known for rhinos, elephants and safaris may not be the first place thought of when it comes to biomed associations, but Kenya also has the capital city of Nairobi, with its national park, the third largest sub-Saharan economy, a strong agriculture sector and 12,375 public and private hospitals.
The hospitals fall under six categories according to guidelines in the country’s Health Act.
The Association of Medical Engineering of Kenya (AMEK) brings biomeds across the country together in one organization.
“The Association has now grown from a small number of members of less than 50 members at the start to now over 1,500 registered members, but with at least 300 members who are active (fully paid members),” says the group’s chairman, the Honorary Symon Mbakah.
Mbakah is the group’s sixth chairman.
He says that the Association of Medical Engineering of Kenya (AMEK) is a national professional association registered under Cap.108 section 10 of the laws of Kenya on July 9, 1998 and officially launched in November of 1998.
“The Association was started in Mombasa by the then head of Medical Engineering Department at the then Mombasa Polytechnic, now Technical University of Mombasa (TUM) by the name Andrew Oscar Obura who was also made the first chairman. His vice chairman was Philip Amoko, currently doing private practice and later became the second chairman of the Association after the death of Oscar Obura,” Mbakah says.
The group provides many benefits to members including conferences and workshops, increasing member’s knowledge, including virtual training through partners, professional development and reporting and management tools review.
“AMEK has eight types of meetings which may be virtual or physical,” Mbakah says
He says that this includes full council meetings every quarter, executive meetings monthly, an annual general meeting for all members, special general meetings for all members; held when there is need to pass an agenda, usually with only one agenda item.
There are also planning meetings, which are held to organize an event such as for training, workshop, conference or any other matter as guided by the constitution.
There are some specialty events as well.
“Women in Biomedical Engineering Day symposium; specifically for women to empower and motivate them in the profession,” Mbakah says. He says that this symposium usually occurs annually on June 23.
There is also the World Biomedical Engineering Symposium for all members and held in December every year as well as the Global Clinical Engineers’ Week.
“This is an activity carried out globally and AMEK participates in the activities in October every year,” Mbakah adds.
The group works with local training programs to help new biomeds enter the field.
“The association collaborates with Kenyatta University (KU), Technical University of Mombasa (TUM), Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) and North Coast Medical Training College (NMTC),” Mbakah says.
HIGH STANDARDS AND RESOLUTIONS
The group has very specific goals and initiatives during its annual meetings. These initiatives aim to increase the competency, professionalism and standards within the biomed profession countrywide.
“The Association usually holds one scientific conference on a yearly basis. The association has partnered with other associations in East Africa as part of the Federation of East Africa Healthcare Engineering Associations (FEAHEA) which organizes rotational conferences referred [to] as [the] East Africa Regional Conference (EARC). AMEK was the first to hold the first EARC in 2008. This year, Tanzania will be hosting the 7th EARC in Mwanza, Tanzania, on November 20 to 22, 2024,” Mbakah says.
He says that during the first African Regional Biomedical Engineering Conference and Healthcare Technology event hosted by AMEK in 2023, there were several resolutions decided on.
“There is need to harmonize and regulate programs and professional training for [the] biomedical engineering profession in Africa. Advocacy for countries to adhere to World Health Organization (WHO) staffing norms for biomedical engineering in Africa. Promote translation of local innovations/inventions to market-level in African countries and strengthening healthcare technology management, Health Technology Assessment (HTA), and regulations of medical devices in African countries,” Mbakah says.
The group is working on a professional regulatory bill.
“Currently [the] biomedical engineering profession is not regulated and now the association has taken an initiative to develop a biomedical engineering profession bill to regulate training, registration, licensing and practice,” Mbakah says.
The group has also engaged in a review of reporting and management tools.
“The biomedical engineering professional management tools were developed over 20 years ago and since then there are many issues that have emerged such as oxygen ecosystem management, artificial intelligence, noting that technology is not dynamic. Therefore, there is a need to have these tools improved to enhance capturing the necessary data during maintenance of the various medical devices,” Mbakah explains.
He points out that the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the important work that biomeds do every day.
“The pandemic in one way or the other opened avenues for biomedical engineering professionals. This is because their role in health care service delivery came into the limelight and many organizations, managers and institutions became appreciative [of] the role biomedical engineers play in health care service delivery,” Mbakah says.
He says that in a nutshell, the pandemic changed the way biomedical engineers operate because now there is a lot of involvement in planning and managing the health care sector.
“Additionally, the association has also been able to carry out capacity building to its members through various partners as a result of the pandemic,” Mbakah says, referring to staffing.
Kenya is much more than safaris; it is home to a vibrant and proactive biomed association that is guiding the profession to be the best it can be.
