Gaborone — Churches and other stakeholders have been encouraged to come on board and give support on a continuous basis towards the COVID-19 fight.

The encouragement came from Minister of Health and Wellness, Mr Dr Edwin Dikoloti when receiving a P2.5 million personal protective equipment (PPE) donation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Gaborone January 24.

"We can only overcome our challenges if we collectively contribute to finding solutions to our current predicaments," said Dr Dikoloti.

He said with the coronavirus spreading like wildfire, PPE, which would aid health care workers in their fight against COVID-19, was more important than ever.

Dr Dikoloti said the ministry recognised the importance of strengthening community engagement and participation with the understanding that everyone had a role to play.

The ministry, he said, had a long standing relationship with Latter-Day Saints Church dating back to 2006 through a collaboration for strengthening services relating to maternal and neonatal care.

The church had also assisted in the provision of devices to assist with mobility of physically disabled persons as well as training of health workers in the proper use and maintenance of wheel chairs, said the minister.

He noted that the donation consisted of 1 500 surgical gloves, 1 000 heavy-duty reusable aprons, 3 500 disposable aprons, 2 500 face shield disposable, 12 000 disposable scrub suits, 1 500 disposable gowns, 1 500 3-ply masks, 4 000 surgical masks, 20 000 examination gloves, 2 000 heavy-duty latex gloves.

Handing over the equipment, a church member and also a medical doctor based at Princess Marina Hospital, Dr Thabang Tsele said the donation was prompted by the increasing numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases as well as deaths in the country.

The situation, he said, had resulted in hospitals experiencing shortage of PPE.

He said the PPE would not only benefit health care workers but the public at large.

Source: BOPA