​​Celebrating 60 years of quality healthcare

Aga Khan University Hospital is celebrating 60 years of its existence since the hospital first opened its doors as a community hospital on September 10, 1958 offering healthcare services to all irrespective of faith, gender and ethnic origin. From a modest secondary hospital, it has grown into an internationally accredited academic medical centre of na​tio​​nal and regional importance.

In July, the hospital launched activities to celebrate its 60th anniversary themed ‘First from the Beginning’. The celebrations are set to last for four months and will highlight the hospital’s development journey since it was established to the now reputable teaching, tertiary and referral healthcare facility offering super-specialty services to residents of the East Africa region and beyond.

Part of the celebrations activities are aimed at benefitting members of the public through free medical camps in different counties, free surgeries for those at the greatest need drawn from the medical camps and other staff engagement activities. For these community engagement activities, the hospital is working with relevant stakeholders to ensure that they benefit those that need them most.​​

A photo exhibition of the Hospital’s history, milestones and other major achievements to date has been set up at the Heart and Cancer Centre, and is open to members of the public. It illustrates developments over the years, and how research and training has seen the hospital evolve into a pioneer in many respects, setting the pace for healthcare in the region. ​

Celebration activities at a glance​

Aga Khan University Hospital in July launched activities to celebrate their 60 years anniversary since the hospital first opened its doors as a community hospital in September 1958. The activities included a pictorial exhibition of the hospital achievements over the years, a 10km staff marathon, 6 free open heart surgeries, 6 free open heart surgeries, 60 PET CT procedures, 30 children and 30 adults,continuous medial education to benefit over 600 doctors, medical camp to benefit over 6000 people in areas at the greatest need especially in low-income areas, ​

​Dr Shawn Bolouki (left), Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan University Hospital explains the model of the new Children’s Specialty Hospital to a section of the University’s Board of Trustees including Dr Haile Debas, the Chairman of the Board (right), Dr Afaf Meleis (centre), and Dr Phillip Clay (behind), at the photo exhibition site during the launch of the Hospitals’ 60 years anniversary celebration activities.

A section of Aga Khan University Hospital Staff take part in a 10km staff marathon along Mombasa road as part of activities to celebrate the Hospital’s 60 years anniversary. Over 250 Staff participated in the marathon.


 Partnerships and Knowledge sharing are inevitable if we are to better healthcare services across the country at all levels. As part of our 60 years celebrations, collaborations through Continuous Medical Education (CME) initiatives have played centre-stage in bridging knowledge-gap among doctors in different healthcare specialties especially at the County level. The hospital conducted various CMEs that benefitted over 600 practicing doctors.

In an effort to improve access to quality healthcare irrespective of financial challenges, a series of Medical camps to benefit over 6000 members of the public at the greatest need in low-income areas have been conducted in various counties. Patients identified from the free medial camps in need of urgent interventions benefitted from free treatment at the hospital supported by the Patient Welfare Programme.

To view the exhibition, please register through the form below and choose a date of your convenience. ​

AKUH,N 60 years celebrations

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For more information please email public.relations@aku.edu or call +254 711 092 170