KHA and ROCHE Kenya established a project to conduct Inhibitor screening for all haemophilia patients yearly for a period of 3 years. People with haemophilia have a better quality of life today than ever before, but medical complications can still occur. The program aims to address the medical complications caused by Inhibitors hence achieve better treatment outcomes for patients with Haemophilia through early detection of Inhibitors. This makes it difficult to stop a bleeding episode because they (Inhibitors) prevent the treatment products from working.
Developing inhibitors is one of the most serious and costly medical complication in bleeding disorders because it becomes more difficult to treat bleeds. Haemophilia patients are therefore advised and required to test for inhibitors for at least once a year.
Treatment for haemophilia patients with inhibitors poses special challenges. The healthcare costs associated with inhibitors can be staggering because of the amount and type of treatment product required to stop bleeding. Haemophilia patients who develop inhibitors are twice as likely to be hospitalized for a bleeding complication and an increased risk of death.
Due to the high cost of screening, majority of haemophilia patients do not go for screening making it extremely difficult to manage a bleed for those with inhibitors. The ROCHE- KHA Free inhibitor screening provided a relief for parents and patients as it fully covered the cost of inhibitor screening in our two major referral hospitals, Kenyatta National Hospital and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital.
