First Lady’s health campaign gets international recognition
. . . receives 3 million Covid-19 doses
FIRST Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, who is the Health and Child Care Ambassador, has charmed the world through beneficial health campaigns with her Chinese counterpart donating Covid-19 vaccines to Angel of Hope Foundation.
The Chinese government also donated vaccines to the Government as strong relations between the two nations continue to scale up.
The country’s health ambassador yesterday received a consignment of three million Sinopharm doses on behalf of the Government.
Among these were one million doses for Angel of Hope Foundation to be used in inoculating women, children and teenagers.
Dr Mnangagwa, through her compassionate work among vulnerable groups, has been engaging in various health campaigns nationwide including cancer screening covering the remotest parts of the country.
Speaking at State House while receiving the vaccines at an auspicious occasion yesterday, Dr Mnangagwa said it was an honour to receive the generous donation from the government of China of three million Covid-19 vaccines.
The First Lady said she was pleased that Zimbabwe was among the first countries that benefited from Chinese vaccines and continued to do so.
“We humbly appreciate this noble gesture by our comprehensive strategic partner. The donation symbolises the close cordial relations between the two countries and vividly reflects the strong bonds of solidarity that exist between our two nations,” she said.
“Allow me to also say a special thank you to the First Lady of the People’s Republic of China, Her Excellency Professor Peng Liyuan, for proposing that among these vaccines, one million be given to women and children.”
Dr Mnangagwa said the Covid-19 pandemic severely impacted the social and economic development of all countries and several millions of lives were lost.
“In the face of Covid-19, the Chinese government played a vanguard role in the development of Covid-19 vaccines and extended donations of these vaccines to other developing countries, including Zimbabwe.
“The donations were not limited to vaccines but also included personal protective equipment, medical supplies, medical equipment and deployment of medical experts to help capacitate local health institutions in combating this scourge.
“This assistance has helped the Government’s efforts in fighting the pandemic,” she said.
Dr Mnangagwa said the donation was ample proof that China remained committed to assisting Zimbabwe to achieve herd immunity, thereby reducing the severity of
Covid-19 cases and its associated adverse impacts.
“It safeguards the welfare of the society and helps to avoid similar disruption of our daily lives as witnessed during the early days of Covid-19. The Covid-19 vaccine has proved to be the most powerful weapon against the coronavirus and has brought renewed hope to many,” she said.
The First Lady also hailed China for assisting on development projects with many having been successfully completed in a number of fields, including mining, agriculture, infrastructure development, energy and environment. Dr Mnangagwa said this reflected the effectiveness of the comprehensive strategic partnership existing between the two countries.
“This has been strengthened by the regular exchanges of high-level visits,” she said.