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Germany boosts Covid case management
German Ambassador Matthias Schauer (right), International Project Manager of Arbeitsgemeinschaft Notfallmedizin Fürth (AGNF) Ines Voigt (second right), deputy executive director of the Mulago National Referral Hospital Rosemary Byanyima (third right), director of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital Celestine Barigye (third left), and hospital staff during the handover of the ventilators on Friday. PHOTO/ COURTESY
What you need to know:
- Uganda plans to vaccinate at least 21.9 million but only 1.6 million have so far been vaccinated due to shortage of vaccines.
Germany has donated five ventilators to Mulago National Referral Hospital and Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital to boost the Covid-19 response as some districts start experiencing a spike in infections.
A ventilator is a life support device which takes over the breathing process by pumping air into the lungs and is very important for patients admitted in Intensive Care Units (ICU) with severe breathing difficulties.
Up to 381 Covid-19 patients are admitted to hospitals, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health and there are fears that a third wave of the pandemic is nearing.
A September 16 statement from the German Embassy in Kampala stated that Germany ambassador to Uganda Matthias Schauer handed over the ventilators to Dr Rosemary Byanyima, the deputy executive director of the Mulago hospital, and Dr Celestine Barigye, the director of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital.
“The devices worth Shs407.5m (€98,150) are meant to boost the country’s response to Covid-19 and provide life-saving oxygen to Covid-19 patients,” the statement reads in part.
“This donation comes as part of a wider support to assist Uganda in managing this crisis, containing the risk of a further spread of the pandemic and mitigate the longer-term effects of Covid-19 pandemic through various clinic partnerships and ongoing development programmes,” it added.
The ventilators are part of the German government-supported Hospital Partnerships initiative between Arbeitsgemeinschaft Not fallmedizin Fürth (Institute for Emergency Medical Education) and Makerere University College of Health Science.
Covid-19 diagnostic, prevention, and treatment are crucial in the pandemic fight but the promising way out is vaccinating as many people as possible.
Uganda plans to vaccinate at least 21.9 million but only 1.6 million have so far been vaccinated due to shortage of vaccines.
“In this light Germany has provided €2.2 billion (Shs9.1 trillion) to the multilateral platform Covax, which aims to distribute vaccines free of charge to developing countries. Uganda has already received 1.6 million doses of vaccine through this channel,” the statement reads.
