BUJUMBURA December 15th (ABP) – The WHO on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, provided the incinerator and other medical equipment for the maternity ward at the Kamenge Military Hospital. It was the first anniversary of the birth of the sextuplets at that hospital last year.
The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of National Defense for Veterans, Col Jean Marie Barumisha indicated that the celebration of the first anniversary of the birth of the sextuplets at the Kamenge Military Hospital, testifies not only to the will of the WHO in support for healthcare structures in Burundi, but also a humanitarian sense of being able to contribute to national solidarity in Burundi. The delivery of that donation, he added, will allow that hospital to continue to improve the quality of care offered to the Burundian population in general and to mothers and children in particular.
He thus announced that the Ministry of Defense will continue to provide support to the Kamenge military hospital, emphasizing that a healthy population is the one that contributes best to the development of the country.
The general director of the military hospital, Dr. Marc Nimburanira, reported that that donation they received is intended for the department of obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, particularly in the neonatology department. He pointed out that that is a donation of more than one billion BIF which is added to other donations that the WHO continues to offer to that hospital, in order to promote good health and improve the quality of care.
He said that that medical equipment will help to meet a lot of challenges. The modern electric incinerator and the training offered to biomedical technicians on its use constitute a major asset meeting hygienic and environmental concepts. It will help preserve good health and a good environment through the incineration of biomedical waste.
That medical equipment will also contribute to the significant reduction in maternal, neonatal and infant mortality, but will also increase the reception capacity in the neonatology department and substantially improve the care of health of mothers and especially high-risk pregnancies and that of newborns.
He also asked the WHO to support them in the maintenance of that incinerator for at least a year, to strengthen the capacities of gynecologists, prepare them to face pandemics such as Ebola and so on.
Dr Nimburanira also mentioned that the celebration of that first anniversary of the birth of the sextuplets at HMK, is an opportunity to recall the moral and material support that WHO Burundi provided to HMK during difficult times, when the military hospital had just received a case of sextuplets in its maternity ward, for which we were neither accustomed nor prepared in terms of equipment or human services.
He deeply thanked all the people who responded to their needs, especially the government of Burundi, the “Umugiraneza” foundation, all the benefactors who contributed materially and financially, without forgetting the hospital staff, who did everything to save the life of mother and babies.
The WHO representative in Burundi, Xavier Crespin, also took the opportunity to congratulate the management of the Kamenge Military Hospital and the technical teams for the remarkable work that is being done and has been done at the place. mothers and babies. “That is a feat, when we know the conditions in which the sextuplets were admitted to the hospital,” he noted.
He indicated that the WHO is pleased to support that hospital, by strengthening the neonatology capacity, so that it can be more efficient in the field of neonatology, particularly to make it a true national reference structure.