Dr Zipporah Gathuya set to join Smile Train global advisory board

Paediatric anaethesiologist Dr Zipporah Gathuya has been appointed to the Smile Train Global Medical Advisory Board. Smile Train is a non-governmental organisation which provides corrective surgery to children with cleft lips around the world. It also works together with local medical personnel and facilities to enable them to carry out cleft surgeries. As an international organisation, it’s global advisory board helps ensure that the cleft treatment programmes provided by Smile Train meet the same safety and quality standards worldwide.

This has become increasingly important in the post-Covid era where the medical landscape is changing rapidly.  Dr Gathuya joins the global board after serving on Smile Train’s African Medical Advisory Council. She has worked in the private and public sector for 15 years. She is a Senior Volunteer with St. John Ambulance, Kenya where she is involved in the training of communities in First Aid. She was also instrumental in initiating the Paediatric Anaesthesia Fellowship program at the University of Nairobi, the first of its kind in East and Central Africa.

On a global scale, Dr Gathuya has worked with various anaesthesiology committees including the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) Paediatric Anaesthesia Committee. She also serves as the Secretary on the leadership committee for the Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery and oversees the Anesthesia Working Group.  She has volunteered for medical/surgical charities for children in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Peru.

Her work in advancing paediatric anaesthesia practices in Kenya earned her a commendation by the Head of State. Dr Gathuya joins Dr. Felicity Vidya Mehendale from India and Dr. Peter Donkor from Ghana as newly appointed members of the board.