Hypertension Update: August 16, 2026

Dear Friends,

It has been almost a year since our last update for the Hypertension Project, and there are many positive things to report:

In my Jan 2026 visit we began screening adults in Kibera by Street Fairs outdoors using a tent, allowing 3 of us (Joel, Clinic Director Dr Tim Kenefick and myself) to screen larger numbers of people, 100 per day. As before, we found 30% of those screened had Hypertension (BP greater than 140/90), for which they were given 3 weeks of Hypertension medicine samples (donated from Americares) and a followup visit with Joel in the clinic; there they were enrolled, and maintenance Hypertension medicines, funded by your generous donations, are dispensed.

In June 2026, my fellow Internist at Summit, Dr James Samuel, and his daughter Esther generously volunteered their time to travel to Kibera and continued the Hypertension screening, and more patients who needed treatment were enrolled: I thank them both for their work!

This month I returned to Kibera to again bring more donated medicines  from Americares (an estimated retail value of $10-20,000 in donated medicines is carried per trip) and to screen more adults with Joel, bringing the total number of adults screened since March 2024 to 1,200, and the current number of Hypertension patients enrolled in the Clinic and being treated by Joel to 380.

In addition, the compliance rate for followup visits is excellent, about 80%, and we are beginning to see many returning patients now with normal BP’s (under 130/80) since taking their meds. This means, from a medical standpoint, that we are now beginning to achieve our goal in treating Hypertension, which is to save lives and prevent heart attacks and strokes: understanding that for every 10 mm reduction in BP there is a resulting 20% reduction in Cardiovascular disease, of the 380 people currently in the Clinic taking Hypertension meds, we can estimate that, because of your generous donations (bringing the Fundraiser up to $30,844), at least 76 have now avoided heart attacks, strokes and death!

Thank you all for your generosity and continued interest --

Asante 

Rich