Joy as nurse converts lorry, container into a mobile dialysis unit

Imagine a lorry that travels from village to village offering dialysis to patients with kidney failure. That is the idea a Kenyan nurse turned into reality after seeing how far people must travel just to stay alive.

Kenya has about 220 dialysis units concentrated in urban areas, yet most patients are in rural areas.

Most of these patients have to take long, exhausting journeys just to stay alive. Some travel up to 200km one way, twice every week, for years. Missing a session can quickly become life-threatening.

It is this gap that Naom Monari set out to close.

Monari, a trained nurse, says distance should not determine who lives and who dies.

She responded by building Renal Roads, sub-Saharan Africa’s first mobile dialysis unit.

“Renal Roads is a mobile dialysis unit that is delivering life-saving renal replacement therapies to patients with kidney failure in rural and hard-to-reach areas of Kenya,” she said.  

“We developed it from a repurposed shipping container and put all the critical considerations like dialysis machines and reverse osmosis systems, making it a technological marvel that can function off-grid and deliver life-saving care.”

Working with Jua Kali artisans, biomedical engineers, statisticians and university partners, she converted a 40-foot shipping container into a fully equipped clinic mounted on a trailer.

The unit looks like a small hospital ward from the inside. It has four dialysis machines, reclining chairs for patients and a dedicated emergency area. The walls and floors meet strict infection control standards.

Because dialysis requires large amounts of clean water, the unit includes a reverse osmosis system, proper plumbing and controlled drainage. It also runs on solar power, with backup systems to ensure services continue even in off-grid areas.

While the dialysis machines themselves are standard, the real breakthrough is making the whole system mobile and safe during transport. The machines are secured in place, and the design is protected under a utility patent.

“Our goal is simple: bring life-saving care closer to people who need it. The first version has worked, but three years from now it will be more compact and efficient,” Monari said.

The truck follows a fixed weekly schedule, rotating between rural communities and operating from local government health facilities.

Each patient receives two four-hour sessions per week. Up to 12 sessions can be done in a day. A county nephrologist oversees care, while trained nurses handle treatment on site.

The innovation has now earned global recognition after Monari, who is now the CEO of Renal Roads, was shortlisted for the 2026 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, the continent’s largest award dedicated to engineering solutions.

“The Africa Prize gives us visibility and access to networks that can help us scale,” she said.

Her journey began in 2017 when she founded Bena Care, a service that offered home-based nursing. The aim was to reduce the financial and emotional burden of hospital visits.

Then came the Covid-19 pandemic. After it eased, Monari and her team noticed a sharp rise in patients needing dialysis. She wanted to understand why.

With support from the International Development Research Centre, she partnered with a local university and carried out a year-long study between 2022 and 2023 in a county heavily affected by kidney disease.

The findings were stark. Many patients were travelling long distances for dialysis. Work and family responsibilities meant some missed appointments yet missing dialysis even once can be fatal.

An early rollout in Murang’a county showed strong results. Patient travel distance dropped by 76.6 per cent. Treatment adherence improved by 100 per cent, meaning patients attended sessions and completed the full four-hour treatment.

Today, Renal Roads serves more than 100 patients every month and delivers about 700 dialysis sessions. Demand continues to grow, with more than 200 people currently on the waiting list.

“I applied for the Africa Prize because I would like to refine the design of the RenoRoads model and winning this prize would be deeply symbolic as a non-engineer because it will show that there is space in engineering for other careers or other fields to make better solutions for the world,” Monari said.

For patients and families, the impact is deeply personal. One 26-year-old mother of two, who used to travel 70km each way for dialysis, described the arrival of the mobile unit near her home as an answered prayer.

The sessions are covered through the Social Health Authority so patients do not pay out of pocket.

Monari now plans to expand to more counties and refine the design further. A second unit is already ready for deployment.

Her innovation is one of three from Kenya shortlisted for the 2026 Africa Prize, alongside Alice Muhuhu’s MoyoECG, an AI-powered heart screening device and Royford Mutegi’s automated vermicomposting system.

The Africa Prize, created by the Royal Academy of Engineering, supports innovators tackling major challenges across the continent. Since 2014, it has backed 165 businesses across 22 countries, creating more than 40,000 jobs and benefiting over 11 million people.

This year’s shortlist features 16 innovators from 11 African countries, working on solutions ranging from healthcare and clean energy to agriculture and education. They will undergo eight months of training, mentoring and networking before a final pitch in October.