Kenyatta University Students Develop Ventilator Amid Covid-19 Pandemic

Amid high demand for ventilators globally due to the coronavirus pandemic, a group of Kenyatta University students has developed a prototype of a ventilator using locally sourced materials.

The 16 learners drawn from the faculties of engineering, pharmacy, medicine, and nursing made the machine in seven days under the tutelage of their lecturers.

Industrialization Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina and other government officials visited Kenyatta University on Friday to look at the innovation, which is yet to receive approval from the Health Ministry.

Kenyatta University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Paul Wainaina said the ventilator can be used by Covid-19 patients and others who are in dire need of oxygen.

He said the institution will be able to produce 50 ventilators per week if the prototype is approved this week.

The team embarked on the project after reports of a global shortage of ventilators with developed countries such as the United States and Italy being overwhelmed by the high number of Covid-19 patients requiring breathing support.

Kenya presently has less than 300 ventilators with over half of them already in use by patients with other respiratory conditions, according to reports.

Covid-19 attacks the lungs hence a ventilator is essential in managing patients who are in critical condition.

With the Health Ministry projecting a rise in the number of Covid-19 infections in the country in the coming weeks, it is no brainer that Kenya needs to have enough stock of ventilators.

So far Kenya has recorded 191 cases of the illness, with 24 of the recovering and seven losing their lives.