Doctors donate PPE to Gweru COVID-19 taskforce
THE Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) yesterday donated a consignment of personal protective equipment (PPE) to Gweru district COVID-19 taskforce to be used by healthcare workers when attending to patients infected with the dreaded coronavirus.
The consignment, valued at US$7 100, was sourced in partnership with a charity organisation, American Friends Service Community, according to ZADHR secretary Norman Matara.
“The consignment includes masks, gloves, sanitisers, gowns and shoe covers,” Matara said.
“We are confident that the healthcare workers will feel excited and motivated about working in COVID-19 risk areas if they are well protected and their safety is guaranteed.
“If they don’t have protective clothing, health workers are afraid to attend to COVID-19 patients or work in places where there is a risk of contracting the virus, so we felt we need to help with the PPEs.”
He urged other organisations to help capacitate frontline health workers with similar support.
ZADHR executive director Calvin Fambirai said they hoped the donation would go a long way in enhancing the safety of frontline health workers in the Midlands capital.
“We are doing this with a view to complement the government and local authorities’ efforts in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
Shakespeare Mureyani, the Gweru district COVID-19 taskforce leader, said the donation by the doctors would go a long way in boosting confidence among frontline healthcare workers.
“We are grateful of the good gesture shown to our team. With the equipment that guarantees safety of health workers, I am sure their work rate will be doubled,” he said.
Zimbabwe Professional Nurses Union secretary-general Douglas Chikobvu said: “The donation is worth praising, but we urge government to review allowances of health workers because at the end of the day, they need to put food on the table for their families, but their income is far below expectations.”
Matara revealed that the doctors would make similar donations to other smaller towns and cities since government and some private organisations were focusing more on safety of health workers in Harare and Bulawayo.