By Steve Umidha
African Guarantee Fund has today donated Essential Medical Equipment worth Kshs. 2.2 million to Pumwani Maternity Hospital in a bid to strengthen the hospital’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The donation constitutes oxygen concentrators, oxygen masks, non-permeable disposable gowns, patient monitors, hand sanitizers with mountable dispensers, surgical masks, N95 masks, patient & infant beds and infused thermometer guns required by the hospital’s workers as they continue to attend to their patients.
The donation will benefit the 300 healthcare workers at the hospital that conducts 50 – 100 deliveries and 10 – 15 caesarean sections daily.
Speaking during the handing over event, African Guarantee Fund Group CEO, Mr. Jules Ngankam, noted that this donation was part of AGF’s commitment to give back to the community especially in light of the ongoing pandemic.
He added that as the largest Maternity Hospital in the country and Sub-Saharan Africa at large, the need to ensure the safety of healthcare providers, and subsequently the patients, who are among the most vulnerable cannot be underscored enough.
“Expectant women, infants and children are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19 exposure, and as a company that is deeply ingrained in the community we operate in, we are determined to be a part of the solution,” Mr. Ngankam explained.
While receiving the donation, Pumwani Hospital’s Deputy Medical Superintendent, Dr. Beth Maina expressed her appreciation to AGF for the support noting that scarcity of PPE kits and other equipment has been a challenge faced by the healthcare sector.
“As a hospital that serves the urban poor, this donation will go a long way in touching the lives that we handle. We are especially appreciative of items such as the N95 masks that have been hard to come by at this time when frontline workers need them most,” Dr. Maina noted.
She noted that the equipment will go a long a way in ensuring provision of quality services to their patients by plugging any deficiencies the hospital may experience.
The donation follows the launch of a Covid-19 Guarantee Facility by the African Guarantee Fund earlier in the year that has served to cushion African SMEs against the adverse effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
