Family Bank Donates Sh 1 Million Cancer Equipment To Makueni County Government
By Catherine Muema
Family Bank has donated chemotherapy chairs and bio-safety cabinets valued at Sh 1 million to the County Government of Makueni for its premier cancer treatment and management centre at the Makueni County Referral Hospital.
The need to have a cancer treatment and management centre is as a result of the Department of Health Services in Makueni reporting a high prevalence of cervical, prostate and breast cancers within the County.
“This is one of the major initiatives we are doing as a county. As a country, we do not have many public facilities so that are able to address this disease. We are thankful to Family Bank and the First Ladies Association for supporting Makueni County. This is a noble cause that Family Bank is donating towards and we believe that the people of Makueni County will find this beneficial,” said Makueni County Government Governor Hon. H.E. Prof Kivutha Kibwana.
Speaking during the handover, Family Bank Chief Executive Rebecca Mbithi said that the donations will go a long way towards promoting access to affordable and improved quality management of cancer patients.
“The cancer treatment is a heavy load to families when a loved one gets cancer. A 78% mortality rate means that cancer cannot be a government problem, it requires both private and public sector to come together to provide long-lasting solutions such as high cost of equipment. We at Family Bank believe in building a sustainable business in the environment that we operate in.”
“Apart from supporting the fight against cancer in Makueni, as a Bank we have also been supporting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises during this pandemic across the 41 counties that we operate in. To date, we have restructured almost Sh 15 billion loans and we continue to support the SME market to cushion businesses against the impact of COVID-19,” she added.
According to the Ministry of Health, in 2019, the annual incidences of cancer in the country were about 28,000 new cases with an annual mortality rate of 78.5%.
From only one branch in 1985, Family Bank has grown over time and currently enjoys a branch network of 91 branches, 4,000 bank agents and over 10,000 merchants countrywide. In 2010, Family Bank was the first bank to introduce mobile banking in Kenya and in 2016 the first to launch mVisa service in Africa. The Bank has received numerous awards including the Think Business Fastest Growing Bank Award three years in a row between 2013 and 2015, the Think Business Best Bank in Micro-Finance Award, 1st Runner-up in 2013 and 2014. In 2017, the Family Bank was feted as the Best SME Bank in Kenya at annual Banker Africa Awards, East Africa – an award initiative for financial institutions in Africa.
