We are celebrating the University of Nairobi as it marks 50 years since it was transformed into the first national University in Kenya on July 1, 1970.
UoN owes its origin to several developments in higher education within the country and the region. The idea of an institution for higher learning in Kenya goes back to 1947 when the Kenya Government drew up a plan for the establishment of a technical and commercial institute in Nairobi.
The plan had grown into an East African concept aimed at providing higher technical education for the region by 1976.
The SDS@50
To celebrate the 50th anniversary (Golden Jubilee) of the University of Nairobi Dental School to be held in the year 2024, a series of activities and events are planned. The activities are clustered around four main pillars that include; rehabilitation and expansion of the dental school, community service that includes free dental check-ups, oral health awareness and treatment, documentary of fifty years of dentistry in Kenya and recognition awards to achievers in dentistry over the past fifty years and the fourth area of focus is hosting an International Scientific Dental Conference (ISDC).
Rehabilitation and Expansion of the School of Dental Sciences (University Dental Hospital)
This is the flagship project of the SDS@50 and has a budget of about one billion Kenya shillings. The school has approached potential partners and continue seeking others to finance this project whose theme is ‘Training appropriate human resource for Universal Health Coverage’. We aim to increase the capacity of the dental school from the current annual intake of 30 students to at least 100 students. In addition to this rehabilitation, our proposal is a hospital with inpatient facilities, modern operating theaters, state of the art craniofacial imaging and intensive care units. All these will create a regional center of excellence for Head and Neck Surgery.
Community Oral Health Service
As part of the SDS@50 celebrations the Dental School aims to conduct countrywide oral health awareness campaign. The University of Nairobi dental students and staff will work with various partners and stakeholders in oral health including KDA and county governments to offer oral health education, check up and emergency treatment as a way of giving back to the society. We expect to directly examine and treat over 100,000 persons in all the 47 counties during this campaign.
Documentary and Awards
There will be a documentary in print and digital highlighting milestones in dentistry and personalities who have made outstanding achievements in dentistry in Kenya over the past 50 years. Achievers will be recognised with various categories of awards.
International Scientific Dental Conference (ISDC)
The Nairobi Dental Congress will be held in Nairobi the capital city of Kenya on 28th -31st August 2024. It is expected to attract over 500 delegates from all over the world and participants will include presenters, scholars, exhibitors, government officials, general dental practitioners, specialists and other stakeholders. There will be oral presentations, poster presentations as well as hands-on workshops in various disciplines.
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