Glaxosmithkline (GSK) and Save the Children has donated N38 million worth of COVID-19 response and medical supplies and oxygen devices to the Lagos State Government as part of efforts to continue supporting the government in fighting the COVID- 19 pandemic.
The donation will complement the efforts of the government to contain the spread of the virus in Lagos, support the frontline workers in their work on the pandemic, and sustain ongoing health care responses to the pandemic in the state
Materials donated include Oxygen Concentrators and Pulse Oximeters to improve access to medical oxygen and thus reduce the number of children dying from pneumonia and other illnesses due to lack of access to medical oxygen.
In addition, Infection prevention and control (IPC) materials and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE’S) were donated in order to support the frontline workers in preventing the spread of infection to themselves, their patients and the community in general.
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The donations made are to all the 28 primary health care centers and two General Hospitals in Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State, and was made possible through the Integrated Sustainable Childhood Pneumonia and Infectious Diseases Reduction in Nigeria (INSPIRING) Project.
The Pulse Oximeters and Oxygen Concentrators are necessary tools in the hands of the frontline workers that will empower them to promptly diagnose hypoxemia (inadequate concentration of Oxygen in the blood) and commence Oxygen therapy for patients that need it.
Since the index case was recorded in Nigeria, Save the Children has worked with the Nigeria government to respond to the pandemic as a member of the Covid-19 Response Task Force at both Federal and state levels and supporting the development and deployment of Covid-19 strategies to contain the expansion of the disease.
Mercy Gichuhi, the country director, Save the Children International Nigeria, said the partnership with GlaxosmithKline regarding COVID-19 prevention and control is a step further to catalyze change and contribute to an accelerated reduction in child deaths from pneumonia and other preventable infectious diseases.
“As an organization, we have been doing all we can to look after our beneficiaries. Our projects have passed through adaptive programming to mainstream Covid-19 response in all our interventions through this crisis. We want to do more to support our beneficiaries especially vulnerable children and families who have been hardest hit by the pandemic,” said Gichuhi.
