Kenya now moves to build disease research centre worth Sh7.8 billion

A Cabinet meeting held on Thursday discussed and agreed to the request to have the centre set up in the country.
The $78 million research centre will serve the whole of Africa.
The Chinese government has offered to put up a 21-storey office building at an estimated cost of Sh8.3 billion ($83 million) to house the research centre.

Kenya is in the process of building a disease research centre worth Sh7.8 billion ($78m)

This follows requests by the African Union and the World Health Organization (WHO) for Kenya to host the centre that will serve the whole continent.

A Cabinet meeting held on Thursday discussed and agreed to the request to have the centre set up in the country. The Cabinet believes that the centre will position Kenya as a regional and continental hub in medical research and disease control and also give the country a head start in combating medical issues such as the coronavirus pandemic.

Also read: Coronavirus: ‘Africa should wake up and ‘prepare for the worst’ - WHO

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Meanwhile, the Kenyan government has set up three more quarantine centres as the cases of those exposed to infected patients rose to over 600. On Monday, the health ministry confirmed one more case tested positive to the deadly coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 16.

Boma Inn, Utalii Hotel and the Kenya School of Monetary Studies will begin holding the quarantined individuals, according to Health CS Mutahi Kagwe.

On the other hand, the Chinese government has offered to put up a 21-storey office building at an estimated cost of Sh8.3 billion ($83 million) to house the research centre.

Once completed, the one of a kind disease research centre will provide job opportunities for Kenyans in the technical, administrative and support functions.