An appeal by the Friends of IHAUDP has reached its fundraising target in order to buy an essential piece of medical equipment for the CBISDO community. The item is called an ‘autoclave’, and is used for sterilizing equipment.
Project supporter, Gill Wyatt, visited the project last year and was shocked to discover that the health post in the CBISDO area did not have a functioning autoclave.
Gill Wyatt on her visit to the project area
“When visiting the project in May last year I was amazed at how the doctor manages with so few resources”, says Gill, who is a nurse herself. “He told us that the old autoclave he has (his only means of sterilising instruments) didn’t always work. He couldn’t send it away for repair because then he would not even have an unreliable means of autoclaving.”
Since her trip, Gill has spear-headed a campaign amongst the Friends of the project to raise the funds for a new autoclave. Support has come from a group at the local hospital, who nominated the appeal to receive part of the proceeds from their Christmas ball, and also an event at a nearby school where Steve Cahill, teacher and photographer, displayed some of his acclaimed pictures of the Project’s wowk. The target of £4,000 has now been reached, and the new equipment is now being purchased for the health-post.
“Anyone who has visited the project will be aware that the electricity cuts are very frequent and therefore the doctor needs to be sure that he has a functioning autoclave when the electricity is available”, observes Gill. “With high rates of both Aids and hepatitis (and of course many other diseases) an autoclave provides a secure way of sterilising equipment to prevent cross-infection.”
