Urgent PPE appeal
21st Jan 2021
Urgent appeal for help with PPE and oxygen supplies at Chitambo Hospital, Central Province, Zambia. Please donate as follows:
- Online through our Total Giving function on this website: https://friendsofchitambo.org.uk/ OR
- Direct to our account number: 00684176; Sort Code: 832610 OR
- Email Dr Jo Vallis, Chair,for other options:jovallis@hotmail.com
The hospital has recorded its first ever case of coronavirus in a member of staff who has tested positive and is showing mild symptoms. After a year of battling to keep the virus at bay, this fragile health system is again short of PPE and oxygen. The hospital has no ventilator and tertiary services are overwhelmed so that Chitambo must manage cases locally.
The new sub-Saharan African variant is spreading rapidly throughout Zambia, with cases almost doubling in 10 days. Some hospitals, such as Mwandi in South West Province, are making strenuous efforts to prepare through converting old wards into covid treatment centres (pictured). Chtambo hospital has identified a few isolation beds but the old hospital infrastructure limits possibilities. Other resources are short nationally and there has been little government guidance on prevention and management at Chitambo.
Please help! Lives depend on it.
