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| Dr Richard Makoni (right), Dr Zulu (in grey suit), Dr Nyabereka from Higher Life Foundation, Masvingo Provincial Hospital Matron Justina Rufaro Nyakudzi and Higher Life Foundation Information Management Specialist Sarathiel Chaipa pose for a photo with the donated equipment |
Brighton
Chiseva
MASVINGO
– Masvingo
Provincial Hospital got a shot in the arm yesterday (April 23) after Higher
Life Foundation donated maternity equipment worth more than US$20 000 to its
maternity unit.
The donated equipment included the basic equipment namely
the Blood Pressure (BP) checking machine and Fetal Dopplers among others.
Also included were critical care equipment that include CPAP
Machine, Ultra Sound Machine, Multi Parameter Monitor Machine, Vacuum
extraction Machine and Neo-Natal Resuscitation Kits.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, Higher Life Foundation
head of health department Ronald Nyabereka said the donation was a reaction to
the calls for help by the hospital authorities.
He said they were rendering aid in form of equipment to five
Central Hospitals and three Provincial Hospitals.
“We came here with the equipment after the hospital
requested that we help them in this regard and we were answering to their call.
“We are supporting them through both the equipment and training
which we are giving to the doctors and the midwives. The training will be done
by our partner Mars,” said Nyabereka.
He said the donation was just the beginning saying if the
hospital requests for other things with resources permitting they would rise to
the occasion.
Nyabereka said they were not only leaving the donation and
end there, but will go on to train the handlers and repair the equipment in
cases of malfunction and regular maintenance.
“We are not ending by leaving this equipment, we are
responsible for the user training of the staff who are going to be using the equipment
and maintenance in case of a breakdown,” said Nyabereka.
He said the maternal and child health care programme was
necessitated by a number of media reports about the maternal mortality cases
and this prompted Higher Life patrons Strive and Tsitsi Masiiwa to share the
story with their partners at ELMA Foundation resulting in the formation of maternal
health projects.
Masvingo Provincial Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Noel
Zulu said he was more than happy to receive the donation saying it was going a
long way to improve maternal health care at the province’s largest referral
hospital.
“We are very happy with this gesture as it is going to make
our work easier here. With this equipment we will be able to deal with special
cases and there will be no need to refer patients to Harare as we would be able
to handle most of the emergencies here,” said Dr Zulu.
He went on to appeal to the corporate world to come in and make
donations in various departments of the hospital.
“This donation will help us a lot but will not meet the all
our requirements, so we will continue knocking on Higher Life’s door for more
support.
“I also call upon other organizations and individuals who
has the means to come and help us improve our hospital standards,” said Dr
Zulu.
