CERVICAL CANCER SCREENING
The month of January is cervical cancer awareness month. Cervical cancer is commonest PREVENTABLE cancer among women in Kenya. It can be described as being sexually transmitted because the causative agent, Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), is an STI. Gynaecologists recommend that sexually-active women and girls visit their gynaecologists for screening to prevent and detect breast cancer and cervical cancer is done. At Excella Healthcare, KMA Centre, 503, screening for cervical and breast cancer is available
That though is beside the point!
WHERE DO MEN GO FOR PAP?
Where do men go for their ‘pap’ i.e. wellness checks? Because I have lived for half a century, it is recommended that I pay a visit to the ‘gynaecologist of men’. The technical term for this person is a UROLOGIST. My The UON medical school class of 2000 boasts of two prominent urologists. The BMIs of the two urologists are worlds apart. Dr Kimani Kabaa cannot be described as overweight, but he is tall and heavy and looks well fed. He is surprisingly athletic. On the other end of the weight scale, Dr Aideed Kahie can easily be blown away by the wind. In fact he has just recently gained a little weight over the last ten years, probably one kilogram. The UON medical class of 2000, who are entering their 50s, are spoilt for choice on who to see for urological wellness checks for men.
AIDEED KAHIE
Today I will start a narrative with my long term friend and college Dr Aideed Kahie whom I met on the first day of medical school back in September 1994. We forged a lasting friendship.
ANAEMIA
In 1984 Aideed was admitted to Garissa General Hospital Dr Kahie had severe anaemia. I suspect his haemoglobin levels may have been about 3 g/dL. They diagnosed malaria as the cause. He could not pay the KES 50 cost sharing fee for his medical care and had to sneak out of the hospital when he was allowed to play outside. He returned later in his adulthood to pay.
Looking at Aideed today the concept of stunting comes in. If you did not achieve your full growth potential when young, you are unlikely to do so as an adult. Hot and dry, Garissa county was not considered conducive enough to allow a child, however ambitious, to proceed to medical school. The parents of Aideed lived in the Northern Frontier. Just before completing high school Aideed went to look for them at the border of Mandera but did not find them. He spent forteen days returning on board of a lorry where goats were the main passengers. He remembers he spent a night in Wajir and another in Mwingi on the way to Garissa. Aideed miraculously made it to medical school. How?
KCPE
Aideed and I both did the Standard eight Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam in 1988. From the depths of Garissa Aideed scored about 350 marks. Studying from the Eastlands area of California, while going to the prestigious Lavington primary school, I scored 503 marks. I had chosen Alliance. I was called to Jamhuri High School like all boys in Nairobi. I went to Strathmore School instead. Aideed went to Starehe Boys High School. Back in the day Starehe conducted interviews prior to admitting students and one of the criterions was how needy one was. Aideed was needy. So needy was he that he was thinking of repeating class 8 did not even have the KES 50 that was to be paid as exam fees. The headmaster of his school graciously paid for him the KES 50 and even exempted him from paying school harambees.
QUOTA SYSTEM
Back in the day, there was recognition that environmental factors could cause differences in the grades obtained among children of equal capabilities who have grown up in different environments. The quota system back then sort to equalize these anomalies at the high school level. The top students, for instance, from each county, irrespective of their scores, where admitted to national schools in different regions of Kenya. This was a great equalizer.
STAREHE BOYS CENTRE
Starehe boys Centre was not only a national school, but sort to help boys from disadvantaged backgrounds. This was the school that Aideed Kahie went to. Starehe offered the perfect environment for students like Aideed from disadvantaged backgrounds, to realize their full potential. Aideed’s dream was to become a medical doctor. He did well and was taken to the university of Nairobi medical school. I also did well and chose to go to medical school.
THE UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI, MEDICAL SCHOOL
I first met Aideed at The University of Nairobi, Medical School. He was a quiet young lad, with evidence of malnutrition. He was jovial and kind hearted. He was also a very clever. When we completed the first year of medical school we had a break from school. During this period we as medical students sort to do some income generating activities to bridge our poverty gap. I tried to get a job at the Chiromo morgue but I apparently did not make the cut. Instead Aideed held my hand and took me to do observership of a medical practice in Eastleigh.
PRE-UNIVERSITY ACTIVITIES
Between 1993 January and 1994 September, prior to joining The University, back then we had to wait for almost 2 years posts high school before joining University. This was as a result of accumulation of different strikes closures of the University. During this period students waiting to join the University pursued different things. I undertook a diploma course in computers at Strathmore College. Aideed on the other hand, began living the doctor’s life. He shadowed and worked for a busy general practitioner who was running a clinic in the bustling Eastleigh area. Because of doing this, in those two years Aideed learnt all the basics that are practicing outpatient doctor needed to know. He could insert intravenous cannulas, administer injections under supervision, and could even do order for medication that had run out. He was involved in the day to day running of the clinic. His biggest advantage there was that he was conversant with the Somali language. This was very useful in translating the symptoms for the general practitioner to treat. I on the other hand, had no clue about inserting cannulas or injecting anything. Like a good medical student I chose to observe. I knew that one day my turn would come.
EASTLEIGH
I shadowed Aideed for two years in Eastleigh during the holidays before our second and third years of medical school. In Eastleigh, Aideed was a well loved ‘doctor’ back then. He took me to homes of prominent persons whom he had assisted in the Eastleigh area. Many people invited him to their homes for a meal to show appreciation for the services he offered. Many of them offered him money. To my shock Aideed always refused to receive money for work that he had not done. He earned his money from his work. His work ethic started very early.
While in Eastleigh Aideed also started Friends of Environment, a garbage collection company to supplement the University Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) loan. It charged KES 150 per month and served a large part of Eastleigh.
WARLORD
Fun fact: Aideed was nicknamed ‘war lord’. This was because in the 90s there was a famous Somali pirate by the same name.
INTERNSHIP AND POST GRADUATE
On completion of medical school we parted ways and went for internship in different hospitals. After internship and working for a few years as medical officers many of my classmates pursued different specialties. Back then there were few universities with specialty training. The University of Nairobi was the most accessible. Moi University had come up. Then there was a little known University called Aga Khan University Hospital.
OBGY VS UROLOGY
For post graduate I returned to pursue a career of working with women and girls, obstetrics and gynaecology. Aideed went on the opposite trajectory. He studied general surgery at the Aga Khan University. He then pursued the health of men by studying Urology at the Nelson Mandela Schools of Medicine, University of KwaZulu Natal. Urology is the gynaecology of men. Dr Aideed is even certified by the European Board of Urology and also a member, Royal college of Surgeon’s of England. He is also a fellow, minimal access surgeon. He is a urological and kidney transplant surgeon. He has special interest in pelvic medicine: sacroneuromodulation, artificial sphincters, and female urology.What a CV! Dr. Aideed Kahie was also the recipient of the travelling fellowship for the 30th World Congress of Enduorolgy 2012.
UNIVERSITY OF SOMALIA
Being conversant with the Somali language, the University of Somalia called upon him to assist in establishing the department of surgery at the University of Somalia in 2014. He was the chair of that department for two years.
UROLOGY SERVICES
Some of the services offered by urologists and transplant surgeons like Aideed include Kidney Transplants, managing erectile dysfunction, inserting penile Implants, preventing, diagnosing and treating prostate cancer, performing vasectomy, managing premature ejaculation, among other urological conditions. As a gynaecologist, I work closely with urologists in the field of fertility. We understand that in fertility it takes two to tango. Problems of fertility affect one third female, one third male and one third combined. Urologists thus help gynaecologists with the male factor infertility issues. Dr Aideed’s urological work is not limited to men. Women too do have a urological system. There are certain conditions that we as gynaecologists work with urologists to sort out.
KAATUN UROLOGY
Aideed has continued his professional entrepreneurial journey. While I am at Excella Healthcare suite 503 at KMA Centre, Aideed transacts urological services at Kaatum Urology Centre Located at Park Medical centre (PMC), along 3rd Parklands Avenue, Suite 609, 6th Floor. His patients love him. At fifty I will be visiting Kaatun for my medical check up! Kaatun has branches in Othaya and South C. Aideed is one of those employers who pays his workers and is mentoring younger consultants.
Fan Fact: Kaatun is a Somali name adopted from his father means a wedding ring. Legend had it that the older Kahie was nicknamed Kaatun for bravery and handsomeness. Kaatun is the name Aideed gave his practice. He formed it while in South Africa to assist in Make Medical Circumcision (MMC) in order to help contain the spread of HIV/AIDS.
A GOOD HUMAN BEING
Dr Aideed continues to be my good friend and colleague. His qualifications are excellent. But more important he is a good person.
Dr Simon Mucara Kigondu, Obstetrician Gynaecologist,
simonkigondu@gmail.com