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Who we are

The Allergy Society of Kenya (ASOK) was registered under the Registrars of Societies, Kenya in 2007 and officially launched on the 20th of November 2008 by a group of medical practitioners from various fields who recognized a gap in allergy care in Kenya. Under the leadership of the founding chair Prof. Isaac M. Macharia, the Society strove to bridge this gap by engaging medics in educational forums and mentoring younger colleagues to train in this field. We are a growing society with a vision of improving allergy care in Kenya. Our current membership consists of
specialists, general medical practitioners and nurses.

Our vision:

To be a leading health professional organization that promotes appropriate care for allergy patients in Kenya

Our mission.

To improve clinical care for patients with allergic conditions by sharing knowledge and skills on various educational platforms to both health care practitioners and the public, to formulate local guidelines that optimize clinical care in our setting, to conduct research that will guide evidence based care and to foster links with regional and international partners in the field of allergy’

Message from the Chair.

Welcome to the Allergy Society of Kenya (ASOK), the leading health professional organization that fosters acquisition of allergy knowledge and skills among health care practitioners and promotes appropriate care for allergy patients in Kenya. We have come a long way since the idea of ASOK was first conceived in an office by a few concerned colleagues. At that time allergies were not regarded as a serious health concern compared to the heavy burden of communicable diseases that was prevalent in our region. Unfortunately, as our population and environment have evolved over time, the improvements in our way of life have taken a toll on our immune systems. What were viewed as “conditions of the West” are now increasingly evident in all ages of our population.

Thanks to the team that formulated the concept of ASOK, we are now in a better position to contend with the increasing challenge of these conditions. With the support from our colleagues in the World Allergy Organization (WAO), we have held two World Allergy Training Schools (WATS) in 2012 and 2018. We have also held Annual ASOK Symposiums or Biennial Conferences, several allergy tracks in the Kenya Paediatric Association (KPA) Annual Scientific Congress and have collaborated with About Allergy (SA) and the Allergy Society of Tanzania in their Symposiums/ Conferences.

Allergy is a growing field and we are currently very few specialists in the region but with the support of our stakeholders, we are determined to increase awareness, knowledge and skill, and to improve access to appropriate allergy care at primary and higher levels. My primary goal is to educate as many colleagues as possible at primary care level as they are the forefront of healthcare access. Creation of robust referral systems will allow those patients who require more specialized care to access them. Overall, this will translate into better care countrywide.

I encourage the many patients with various allergic conditions to support each other as those who have walked in the same shoes understand the struggle a lot better. The allergy spectrum is wider than generally perceived and patients with the same condition may be affected differently but support and understanding from health care workers, friends and family is vital for those affected to achieve good outcomes. Most allergies have no cure, the management is long term and often expensive. We hope to find local solutions that may better suit our population and some of these solutions will come from those affected. We celebrate those who have outgrown their allergies and encourage those still on the journey. Together, we shall make a difference in how allergy is perceived and managed in Kenya and beyond.

Dr. Elizabeth W. Kiragu
Chair, Allergy Society of Kenya

Meet The Team

Executive Committee

1. Dr. Elizabeth Kiragu – Chair
2. Dr. Evelyne Ng’ang’a – Secretary
3. Dr. Ravi Sharma – Treasurer
4. Dr. Anne Barasa  – Member
5. Dr. Angela Migowa – Member
6. Dr. Carol Ndarathi – Member
7. Dr. Waceke Kombe – Member
8. Prof Kirtika Patel – Member

Guidelines and Scientific Committee

  1. Dr. Evelyn Ng’ang’a – Chair
  2. Dr. Anne Barasa – Member
  3. Dr. Priya Bowry – Member
  4. Dr. Carol Ndarathi – Member
  5. Dr. Elizabeth Kiragu – Member
  6. Joan Kagema – Member
  7. Dr. Jacqueline Kavete – Member
  8. Dr. Maureen Kiaraho – Member
  9. Dr. Diana Marangu – Member
  10. Prof. Kirtika Patel – Member
  11. Dr. Ravi Sharma – Member
  12. Dr. Winnie Njenga – Member
  13. Dr. Maria Muthoka – Member
Dr. Elizabeth W. Kiragu - Chair Paediatric Allergologist
Elizabeth Kiragu is a Paediatric Allergy Specialist and full time faculty based at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi. She attended the University of Nairobi and for her undergraduate degree and her Masters in Paediatrics and Child Health. She completed a 2-year Paediatric Allergy fellowship at the University of Cape Town. Dr. Kiragu has established comprehensive allergy services within the Paediatric Department of Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi. She has a special interest in food allergies, urticaria, asthma and allergy advocacy. She is the current Chair of the Allergy Society of Kenya, (ASOK) and a member of the Emerging Societies Program, World Allergy Training School Steering Committee (ESP/WATS), Kenya Paediatric Association Scientific Committee (KPA) and KPA Clean Start Collaborative Committee. She is also a founder member of South East and West Africa Allergy (SEWA) collaboration.
Dr. Evelyne Ng’ang’a - Secretary Paediatric Allergologist
Dr. Evelyne Ng’ang’a is a practicing Paediatric Allergologist at various hospitals in Nairobi. She holds a Bachelors in Medicine and Surgery and a Masters in Paediatrics and Child Health from the University of Nairobi. She also holds a diploma, certificate and Master of Philosophy in Allergology from the University of Cape Town. She is actively involved in allergy training both locally and regionally and has given lectures both locally and internationally. Her interests lie in allergy prevention, eczema and food allergies. She is the current Secretary of the Allergy Society of Kenya and Chair of its Scientific Committee. She is also a member of the Allergy Society of South Africa, European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
Dr. Ravi Sharma - Treasurer MBBS, PGDSTI, PGDOSH.
Dr. Ravi Sharma has maintained a full-time general practice in Ruiru Town since 1984. His professional focus and expertise revolve around Allergy and Asthma as well as Occupational Health. In addition, he serves as an Adjunct Faculty member within the Department of Family Medicine at Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi.
Dr. Anne Barasa - Member Immunology, and immunopathology
Dr. Anne Barasa (MBChB, MMed Path) is a lecturer, consultant pathologist and head of the Immunology Unit in the Department of Human Pathology, University of Nairobi, where she teaches basic, applied and clinical immunology, and immunopathology, to undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. She also provides immunopathology coverage and clinical immunology consultancy at the Kenyatta National Hospital immunodiagnostic laboratories and clinical areas. Anne is the current president of the African Society for Immunodeficiencies<br /> (ASID), the key multidisciplinary organization for the field of primary immunodeficiencies in Africa. She is keen on building local capacity on the laboratory diagnosis of immune mediated diseases.
Dr. Angela Migowa - Member Pediatric Rheumatologist
Dr. Migowa is the Founding President of the Paediatric Society of the African Society of the African League Against Rheumatism (PAFLAR) and co-founder of Kenya Women In Health Alliance. She is an Assistant Professor and Pediatric Rheumatologist in the department of Pediatrics and Child Health at Aga Khan University Medical College East Africa (AKUMCEA), Kenya. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Pediatric Rheumatology at McGill University Health Centre, Montreal-Canada and holds a Masters in Paediatrics and Child Health (AKUMCEA). She is currently a PHD Candidate at University of Ghent in Belgium and her research work is focussed on addressing diagnostic challenges for paediatric rheumatic diseases in Kenya.
Dr. Caroline W. Ndarathi - Member Consultant Dermatologist.
Dr. Caroline W. Ndarathi is a Consultant Dermatologist. She holds an MBChB from the University of Nairobi, a MSc in Clinical Dermatology from the UK and a Diploma in Aesthetic Medicine from the American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine (AAAM). She is an Honorary Lecturer in Dermatology at the University of Nairobi and the Dermatology MMeD program at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. She is also an Executive and Scientific Committee member of the Kenya Association of Dermatologists (KAD) as well as a member of the Kenya Medical Association (KMA). She has a keen interest in Pediatric Dermatology/ Atopic Dermatitis.
Dr. Waceke Nganga Kombe - Member Paediatric Gastroenterologist
My vision is to see the children of Kenya and Africa have access to the best medical management options offered worldwide. This propels me to strive for excellence in the clinical services I offer, my teaching practice and my research studies. I undertook my bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Nairobi, College of Health Sciences. I then undertook a two year fellowship in Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the University of Cape Town, Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. I was the recipient of the 2013-2015 ESPGHAN fellowship award.<br /> I work at the Aga Khan University Hospital Nairobi as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health and a Paediatric Gastroenterologist. I am also the fellowship Director for the fellowship program in Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition.<br /> My current research interests are food selectivity among children on the Autism Spectrum and Local patterns of Biliary Atresia. I am the National Vice Secretary of the Kenya Paediatric Association, an Executive Committee Member of the Allergy Society of Kenya and a member of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (ESPGHAN).
Prof Kirtika Patel - Member Immunology
Prof Patel is the chair of Pathology at the School Of Medicine at Moi University Eldoret. She has a Ph.D. in Immunology and has been with the University for the last 23 years. She undertook an MSc in Allergy and Clinical Immunology at the Imperial College London and passed with merit in 2019. Her research on Pollen food Syndrome and Irritable Bowel Syndrome was presented at BSACI and led to a publication in the journal Allergy. She has also published a case report on Reviewing the Management of Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome. Prof Patel has established an allergy clinic at a private hospital in Eldoret and is currently working on setting up the same at Moi Teaching Referral Hospital. She performs the Skin Prick and Patch test on patients referred to her. In this presentation, she will be discussing the basic mechanisms of Allergy.