25/11/20

Battling the Coronavirus across Angola

Addfield joins the fight against disease across Angola.

As Covid19 continues to make headlines it is important to recognise the work that International Aid Agencies continue to complete. Working across developing countries, often with limited infrastructure to establish facilities to enable the safe disposal of medical waste.

For many years now Addfield has worked side by side with many of these organisations to combat viral outbreaks in developing regions. Delivering comprehensive solutions across varying scales treating endemics, and epidemics, some newsworthy whilst others were not so. This year however the word pandemic has been firmly on everyone’s lips and you cannot go five minutes without hearing about the Coronavirus once again.

It is important to not forget that Covid19 is not the only infectious disease that is fatally infectious. In this instance, AFG SA, based in Portugal and experts in the sale of medical equipment approached leading medical incineration manufacturers Addfield based in the UK. AFG through their Angola subsidiary Acail Angola asked Addfield to support them on a project for the Angolan Ministry of Health to supply and install 5 medical waste machines, to not only manage the additional waste created through combatting the Covid19 outbreak but also the continuing impact of Malaria and Tuberculosis across 5 field hospitals, located in Nzeto, Huila, Cunene, Dundo and Cabinda.

Coronavirus is currently not the biggest killer in Angola. Records indicate 333 confirmed deaths from the Coronavirus as of the middle of November 2020. Compared to Malaria which is responsible for an average of 12,000 deaths a year placing Angola in the top 10 countries most affected by the disease. As such in addition to supporting in the management of the Coronavirus, these incinerators will also prove essential pieces of equipment to combat other diseases for many years to come.

For this project, they selected 5 MP100 Medical/Pathological Incinerators. The MP range has proven itself to be a highly reliable solution for many aid agencies and NGO’s for treating waste in remote locations. Being both highly compact whilst also delivering quality and reliable medical waste disposal.

Beyond the visible impact of contagious diseases, there is also a hidden threat across Angola. Poverty is a growing problem, leading many families according to reports to subsist from scavenging in openly dumped garbage, which can include medical waste in some regions. This is another benefit of these machines as they will remove the hazardous waste and the health care risks from the ecosystem protecting the environment alongside its residents.

“A lot of investment is taking place across Angola to reduce these issues and reduce the numbers of deaths from avoidable diseases such as Malaria and Tuberculosis, which are blighting the country and we are proud to be able to play a small but important part in this as we know that our machines will stand the test of time and could be supporting these 5 communities for more than 20 years a fantastic improvement in the quality of life and a great legacy for us in the region.” Eduardo Sierra Torres, International Sales, Addfield Environmental Systems.

For years now Addfield has been recognised as the name to trust in medical waste disposal. Delivering machines to suit the smallest laboratory up to several thousand-bed hospitals to safely dispose of harmful waste. This project is yet another success for Addfield not only for helping to support international health but also through being yet another new country to add onto our roster of countries that have invested in one of our solutions. Following the success of this project, we are already in negotiations for future projects.

To learn more about the MP100 Medical Incinerator visit the product page by clicking here.

To learn more about the Addfield range of medical incinerators Click Here