Impact of a portable neuroendoscopic equipment system to provide an outreach service in Sub-Saharan Africa

Hydrocephalus in the pediatric population is an enormous burden in developing countries worldwide. In Kenya, and its surrounding East, Central and Southern Africa region, with a population of 250,000 million, a conservative estimate suggests an annual incidence of nearly 14,000 infants developing hydrocephalus within the first year of life. Hydrocephalus, largely a disease of poverty in this region, becomes even more challenging to treat due to lack of neurosurgical manpower, inadequately equipped public health care facilities, meager resource allocation, high rates of neonatal infection including meningitis, difficulty of access to hospitals able to treat hydrocephalus, and high complication rates in patients who are able to access and receive shunting procedures.