International waste management company Averda and South African disaster and relief group, Gift of the Givers recently announced that they will be joining forces to provide medical waste management services to Gift of the Givers’ mobile testing stations across South Africa free of charge.
The testing facilities are equipped and ready, open to the public at large and patients are already being tested by trained professionals. However, all the medical waste from the stations needs to be collected and disposed of as per the rules and regulations of medical operations. Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, Founder of Gift of the Givers believes in providing assistance to the government and to our society’s most vulnerable sets an example to other NGOs to actively participate in the fight against the pandemic.
“Our mobile testing station initiative will assist the government in meeting the diagnostic demands of COVID-19 by providing NICD [National Institute for Communicable Diseases] approved lab testing at discounted rates. We are proud to be working with Averda, who have taken the lead in providing critical services to fill resource gaps that would have detrimental effects on the most vulnerable communities if not addressed, “said Sooliman.
The large quantity of infected medical waste generated by testing for the highly contagious virus means efficient management of high-risk healthcare isolation waste and disposal becomes critical. Therefore, Averda will manage the disposal of contaminated waste from the mobile COVID-19 testing stations on a pro bono basis.
According to Malek Sukkar, CEO of Averda CEO, “This virus threatens all of us and so we must all act as one. Averda has the resource and the skill set to remove and manage waste safely, protecting hygiene standards, which is key to fighting the virus”.Averda will also provide training and skills development on waste storage and disposal to the staff at these testing stations, enabling the safety and protection of health care workers
