Dr. Greg Ganda

19/06/2026

I have been privileged to work alongside visionaries. While many are focused on building for today, visionaries are already planning what must be built for the next five years.

Today, together with Kisumu County First Lady Mrs. Dorothy Nyong’o, I spent the morning at KPMG⁠ with consultants led by McKenzie, alongside Mr. Peter Chun from South Korea and a team of investors and business leaders from India, reviewing progress on the feasibility study for a new cancer centre in Kisumu.

This study goes beyond the idea of building another hospital. It is helping us map the oncology ecosystem across Western Kenya—understanding the cancer burden, patient pathways, financing gaps, regional demand, operational requirements, and the most sustainable Public Private Partnership model for long-term cancer care. It is also shaping the business case for the planned investment by AGA.

Our next step is to convene a regional oncology stakeholders’ workshop within the next four weeks, bringing together county governments, oncologists, partners, and healthcare providers from across Western Kenya. This forum will help align priorities, strengthen collaboration, and formally launch the study findings and business case.

Later in the day, we held another strategic engagement at Olesereni to advance an innovative early cancer screening programme set to be established at Victoria Hospital by December. This initiative will strengthen early detection, improve diagnosis, and build stronger referral pathways into specialized cancer treatment.

Our vision is clear: to build an integrated cancer care ecosystem in Western Kenya—anchored on prevention, early diagnosis, treatment, innovation, and hope.

The future of healthcare in our region has to be planned today

13/06/2026

Saving the next generation from the burden of cervical cancer. The progress is real and the journey continues

12/06/2026

Since devolution took root in Kenya, county governments have sometimes been portrayed as defiant of national policy. Working in county health leadership has taught me that one of the biggest misconceptions about devolution is the belief that uniformity equals alignment.

It does not.

National priorities matter. Standards matter. But implementation must reflect local realities if we are serious about better health outcomes.

In this article, I share reflections on what devolution has taught us about health systems, telemedicine, and why local adaptation is essential for national success using examples from Muranga and Kisumu

Working in county health leadership has taught me that one of the biggest misconceptions about devolution is the belief that uniformity equals alignment. It does not. National priorities matter. Standards matter. But implementation must reflect local realities if we are serious about better health o...

09/06/2026

Today, we had the honour of hosting U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Susan M. Burns during her working visit to Western Kenya. Her focus on health sector was on digital transformation and maternal health.

At Lumumba Sub-County Hospital, we showcased the remarkable transformation that has taken place in healthcare delivery through strategic investments in digital health, maternal and child health, and primary healthcare strengthening.

Lumumba has become a model facility in Kisumu County. Over the past few years, outpatient attendance has grown from approximately 3,000 to more than 10,000 patients per month, while maternity workload has increased from about 80 deliveries to nearly 280 deliveries per month. This growth reflects increasing public confidence in the quality and accessibility of services available at the facility.

The visit provided an opportunity to demonstrate how TaifaCare, KenyaEMR, and the Wanda maternal health platform work together through interoperability to support patient care. By connecting these systems, healthcare workers can track maternal and child health outcomes more effectively, identify high-risk pregnancies early, and ensure timely interventions.

The delegation also visited Kisumu County’s Health Data Centre located at Lumumba Hospital. The centre currently supports digital health services across 146 facilities and represents a major step towards local ownership of health information systems, secure data management, and real-time decision-making.

We shared how digital dashboards, data analytics, and integrated health information systems are helping us move beyond data collection to data-driven action. These innovations are improving service delivery, strengthening accountability, and supporting better health outcomes for our communities.

We are grateful to the U.S. Government, CDC, Palladium, CIHEB, and our many development partners for their continued support and collaboration. Together, we are demonstrating that strong partnerships, innovation, and local leadership can transform health systems and improve lives.

Kisumu remains committed to building a modern, integrated, and patient-centred health system that delivers quality healthcare for all.

07/06/2026

06/06/2026

This week, in my capacity as the chair of the CECs caucus in the council of Governors and as CEC Kisumu, I joined fellow health leaders from national and county governments at the 23rd Health Sector Intergovernmental Forum to discuss the future of healthcare in Kenya.

The Forum focused on strengthening accountability and collaboration in the implementation of Universal Health Coverage, with discussions covering healthcare workforce sustainability, digital health, social health insurance, quality of care, health infrastructure, and access to services for vulnerable populations.

One point I emphasized in my remarks was that as we expand Taifa Care and strengthen Universal Health Coverage, we must ensure that the pathway into the system is accessible to every Kenyan.

If civil registration and identification become the gateway to healthcare financing, then access to civil registration and identification services must itself be universal. Universal Health Coverage cannot be truly universal if people are excluded before they even enter the system because they live in remote areas or face barriers in accessing registration services. I am encouraged that the Forum adopted resolutions supporting universal health registration, registration at birth, and mechanisms to ensure that vulnerable populations and those living in remote areas are duly registered in our civil registration systems.

I also challenged us to rethink how we define development in health. Too often, development is measured by the number of buildings constructed. Yet a health facility only delivers value when it is staffed, equipped, supplied, and operational. I am pleased that the Forum adopted a resolution supporting health infrastructure planning that includes staffing, operationalization, and sustainability.

Ultimately, our success will be measured by whether mothers survive childbirth, whether children thrive, and whether every Kenyan can access quality healthcare without suffering financial hardship.

02/06/2026

When a fire breaks out, an ambulance is needed, or a security incident occurs, every minute matters.

A few weeks ago, we supported the transition to an integrated Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) for Kisumu and appointed Michael Obare as the head of the EOC. For the first time, this brought together emergency ambulance dispatch, fire services, and security response teams under one roof, creating a platform for faster communication and more coordinated emergency response.

Today, I spent time with the team in the new center, reviewing progress, discussing challenges, and providing technical support as the Centre continues to develop. We are ready for a single number.

Over the coming months, we will continue to provide mentorship, technical support, and training to help build a strong, integrated emergency response system.

Ultimately, this investment is about ensuring that emergency services can act as one coordinated team when lives and property are at risk.

The previous facility will continue to host the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, maintaining its important role in disease surveillance and management of public health emergencies.

We are encouraged by the progress made so far and remain committed to strengthening emergency preparedness and response across Kisumu County.

30/05/2026

As we prepare for the rollout of EWENE RRI, a transformative initiative being implemented jointly by the National Government and the Council of Governors, I am excited that Kisumu is joining this rapid results effort with a strong digital foundation already in place.

Through the scale-up of Wonder EMR over the past two months, we are increasingly able to know in real time the status of pregnant women attending antenatal care and during labour and delivery.

We look forward to working with the National Government and our fellow counties to ensure that every mother and every child counts.

30/05/2026

My thoughts on the Ebola isolation facility debate

Last year, during the Mpox outbreak, a man who had been exposed to a case in South Sudan got into a vehicle, traveled through Uganda, crossed into Kenya, and eventually arrived in Kisumu seeking medical care.

Why?

Because when people are frightened, they move. They look for safety. They go where they believe they have the best chance of surviving.

Viruses do not respect borders, and neither do desperate human beings.

One common denominator in the arguments on social media is that Kenyans support strengthening our country’s capacity to both prevent and safely manage high-risk infectious disease threats.

So, I understand why many Kenyans are concerned about the proposed Ebola isolation facility. Those concerns are valid. People fear bringing in a disease that could leak and cause an outbreak. Any decision involving a disease as serious as Ebola must therefore be subjected to the highest standards of transparency, accountability, public participation, and safety.

As a leader in the health sector, I owe Kenyans an honest evaluation of the situation. So this is my opinion.

Whether this facility is built or not, Kenya remains vulnerable to infectious disease threats. We live in a region with significant cross-border movement, porous borders, and recurring outbreaks in neighboring countries.

The greater threat to Kenya will more likely be an infected person crossing a border undetected and presenting to a local health facility before anyone realizes what is happening. Not a highly controlled facility operating under strict biosafety protocols.

That is why, for me, the central issue is not whether a facility should be established.

The real questions are these:

Will this partnership with the US government leave Kenya stronger than we were before?

Will it strengthen our disease surveillance systems?

Will it improve our laboratory capacity?

Will it increase our emergency preparedness?

Will it enhance training for healthcare workers?

Will it improve our ability to detect, isolate, and respond to future outbreaks?

Will it make Kenya safer?

If the answer is yes, then those benefits deserve serious consideration.

If the answer is no, then Kenyans have every right to ask difficult questions.

Forget the politics. Forget the press conferences. Forget who said what. Just answer those questions.

My position is that in economics, there is a concept called opportunity cost. Every decision has costs and benefits. The question is whether the benefits of this partnership to Kenya outweigh the costs and risks.

These decisions need to be made quickly, because diseases move faster than debates.