The Kenya Ear Nose and Throat Society (KENTS) Is a professional organization in Kenya representing otorhinolaryngologists(ENT) head & neck surgeons, ENT Clinical Officers, Audiologists and ENT nursing officers.
Ear, nose, throat and head & neck disorders and diseases are among the most common conditions, afflicting many people, young and old. They include congenital conditions and acquired.
History of Ear, Nose & Throat Surgery in Kenya
KENYA ENT SOCIETY (KENTS) — OUR HERITAGE
Founding & Early Growth
The first ENT surgeon in public service in Kenya was Dr. Peter Clifford, who arrived in the early 1960s. Dr. Manuel D’Cruz (qualified England, 1958) provided voluntary services at KNH and founded the Kenya Ear Foundation, launching ear surgery outreaches nationwide and establishing ENT departments at Mathari and Mukumu Mission hospitals. Outreach work continues through Operation Ear Drop Kenya.
Prof. Herbert Obura — the first indigenous ENT surgeon — returned from England in 1985 and together with Prof. I.S. Bal launched the MMed ENT programme at the University of Nairobi in 1986. They were later joined by Prof Isaac Macharia.
Training & Workforce
Formal ENT Clinical Officer training began in 1972 and has produced over 200 officers, now present in virtually every county hospital. The MMed ENT programme graduated its first specialist in 1989; by 2016 it had trained 83 ENT surgeons (25% female), with approximately 20% of trainees drawn from other African countries. The programme was extended from three to five years in 2009. Sixteen of Kenya’s 47 counties now have ENT surgeons.
83+MMed ENT specialists trained | 200+ENT Clinical Officers trained | 16/47Counties with an ENT surgeon |
Audiology
Audiology services at KNH were established in 1978 by Mr. Benson Ototo. A Diploma in Clinical Audiology (2002, UoN) was the only such course in Africa at its founding, training over 50 officers to date — nearly half from outside Kenya.
RECENT DEVELOPMENT A BSc in Audiology has now been established at the University of Nairobi, marking a significant step towards a fully credentialed audiological workforce. |
Research & KENTS
The department has distinguished itself in research collaboration with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine — Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media (CSOM), with findings contributing to treatment changes worldwide.
KENTS was founded in 1988 and has held an uninterrupted annual scientific conference since 1990, remaining the leading CME provider in ENT across East Africa. Annual workshops cover temporal bone dissection, functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) , head and neck surgery, and endoscopic ear surgery (EES).
Subspecialisation
Subspecialisation began in 2006 when Dr. Joyce Aswani returned with a Head and Neck Surgery fellowship from the University of Cape Town. Since 2016, fellowship-trained surgeons have expanded into Rhinology and Paediatric ENT, trained at accredited centres in Africa, Europe, and Asia.
THE SPECIALTY TODAY Kenya now has fellowship-trained subspecialists in Head and Neck Surgery, Rhinology, and Paediatric ENT — enabling advanced care to be delivered locally and reducing the need for patients to travel abroad. |