First Lady Margaret Kenyatta Monday joined a few dignitaries who have acquired the new Pan African Passport.
Mrs Kenyatta received her new Common African Union Passport on the sidelines of the 10th Stop Cervical, Breast and Prostrate Cancer in Africa (SCCA) conference taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia .
According to the PSCU, the new passport which was unveiled by the continental body during the recent AU summit in Kigali, Rwanda, allows its holders free movement across the 54 countries of Africa.
The First Lady received her new passport from the acting AU chairperson Erastus Mwencha. Only a few Heads of State have acquired the new travel document.
The All-Africa passport now turns the continent into a borderless region, and promises a solution to problems standing on the way of intra-Africa trade and the movement of business people, tourists and workers across the continent
It allows free movement in a region in which half of the 54 African countries require entry visas which can take days or weeks to apply and process, including for people who need them at short notice including journalists.
The First Lady also joined four other of her colleagues to tour the Woreda 3 Health Centre that specialises in the treatment and care of cancer patients including children.
She joined her Ethiopian host Mrs Roman Tesfaye and the First Ladies of Mozambique, Chad and Djibouti to tour the Satellite Medical facility that also serves as a training centre for oncology students from Addis Ababa University College of Health Sciences.
The Satellite Health Centre is a project of the Ethiopian First Lady aimed at decongesting the Black Lion Referral Hospital that deals with cancer patients.
According to the Health Centre’s Medical Officer In-charge Dr W. Tigeneh, only the more serious cases are referred to the Black Lion Hospital whereas the other patients are cared for at the Woreda 3 Health centre by visiting doctors and in-house nurses.
The Health Centre is largely an out-patient facility although it has about 20 beds for patients awaiting referral to the Black Lion Hospital.