Eye clinic receives N$1.5 donation
Namibia Desert Diamonds says the health sector is a focal area for its social responsibility arm, the Namdia Foundation.
ESTER KAMATI
WINDHOEK
Namibia Desert Diamonds (Namdia) on Friday handed over a new machine to the Windhoek Eye Clinic, while an additional amount has been allocated to cater for the repair and upkeep of existing equipment at the clinic.
The Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) machine, which is valued at N$795 000, is part of a N$1.5 million donation that could significantly increase the number of patients treated at the clinic.
Namdia CEO Kennedy Hamutenya said the health sector is a focal area for the Namdia Foundation, adding that the entity hopes to promote nation building and support vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.
“This might seem like an insignificant gesture for an individual whose vision is intact. And the ability to see is one that many of us take for granted,” he said.
One of the doctors at the eye clinic, Ellis van Der Merwe, said the most common diseases seen at the clinic are diabetes and glaucoma.
He explained that diabetes causes swelling of the retina and the new machine can measure the retina to check for abnormal swelling.
The health ministry’s executive director, Ben Nangombe, said the donation signifies the private sector’s contribution to the improvement of the provision of public healthcare services.
He added that high-tech equipment is being provided to the health sector, with the new machine being the only one of its kind in public service.
“It enables the doctors to be able to see more patients than they used to without it,” he said, adding that with the new machine, the clinic is able to assist more than double the number of patients in a month.
Namdia recently also donated an oxygen-generating plant to the Mariental state hospital.
[email protected]
WINDHOEK
Namibia Desert Diamonds (Namdia) on Friday handed over a new machine to the Windhoek Eye Clinic, while an additional amount has been allocated to cater for the repair and upkeep of existing equipment at the clinic.
The Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) machine, which is valued at N$795 000, is part of a N$1.5 million donation that could significantly increase the number of patients treated at the clinic.
Namdia CEO Kennedy Hamutenya said the health sector is a focal area for the Namdia Foundation, adding that the entity hopes to promote nation building and support vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.
“This might seem like an insignificant gesture for an individual whose vision is intact. And the ability to see is one that many of us take for granted,” he said.
One of the doctors at the eye clinic, Ellis van Der Merwe, said the most common diseases seen at the clinic are diabetes and glaucoma.
He explained that diabetes causes swelling of the retina and the new machine can measure the retina to check for abnormal swelling.
The health ministry’s executive director, Ben Nangombe, said the donation signifies the private sector’s contribution to the improvement of the provision of public healthcare services.
He added that high-tech equipment is being provided to the health sector, with the new machine being the only one of its kind in public service.
“It enables the doctors to be able to see more patients than they used to without it,” he said, adding that with the new machine, the clinic is able to assist more than double the number of patients in a month.
Namdia recently also donated an oxygen-generating plant to the Mariental state hospital.
[email protected]
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