Mitundu Rural Hospital gets PPE donation boost
Mitundu Rural Hospital in Lilongwe says continuous availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at the medical facility can play a crucial role in preventing further spread of Covid-19 disease in its catchment area.
The facility’s deputy In-charge Danford Chilambula made the remarks during a donation of 20,000 surgical face-masks and various infrared thermometers from Alliance One Tobacco Malawi in collaboration with Pyxus Agriculture Limited and Imperial Tobacco Group (ITG) of United Kingdom.
The Hospital is used as a referral medical center by other nine satellite clinics with an estimated total catchment area population of about 300.000 including those from the neighboring Mozambique.
According to Chilambula, continuous availability of PPE at the hospital is very crucial to both the medial workers as well as patients particularly during this period of Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are very grateful to Alliance One for making this donation as it will go a long way in helping our staff to be protected from various communicable diseases including this Covid-19 pandemic during the course of their work,” said Chilambula.
In his statement, Alliance One corporate affairs officer Ben Kawonga said his company thought it wise to donate the PPE to various rural based public health centers in the country including Mitundu Rural Hospital, after noting the overwhelming challenges which most of these medical institutions face.
“We are here to handover these protective wears and infrared thermometers which were given to us by Imperial Tobacco Group because as part of our company’s corporate social responsibility we always focus at complimenting government’s efforts of improving the living standards of people in the country,” said Kawonga.
He explained that as one way of ensuring that the donation reaches many public health centers, his company selected about 14 public rural-based medical facilities including Mitundu Hospital to be among the beneficiaries. Each of them has received 20,000 surgical face masks and various infrared thermometers.
Kawonga said with the current health crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic, most local health facilities are stretched in terms of having adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) especially for the frontline health workers to ensure that they are adequately prepared and protected.
“We believe that this donation will help our frontline health workers in preventing themselves as well as the masses they always serve in the hospitals and clinics,” he said.
According to Kawonga, ITG has a long-standing relationship with Alliance One Tobacco (Malawi) as it helps his company in the implementation of various sustainability programs especially in the areas of environmental conservation management, health, social-welfare, water and sanitation and education among others.
According to Kawonga, similar donation will also be done to 13 other health centers including Mtunthama, M’nyanja, Dickson, Malingunde, and Engucwini among others.
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