While the urgency and danger of Covid-19 seems to be easing almost two years since our first lockdown, many of our communities, healthcare workers and facilities around South Africa are still under tremendous strain.
It is for this reason that Bayer South East Africa, in partnership with the South Africa Medical and Education (SAME) Foundation, have been hard at work with their COVID-19 Relief Fund, providing medical equipment, personal protective equipment (PPE) and mental health support to health workers and facilities.
“Health for all and hunger for none, our vision, keeps us passionate, specifically in the area of health, but also nutrition all around the world,” says Klaus Eckstein, CEO of Bayer South Africa.“We cannot put aside the impact that Covid has had around the world but also specifically in South Africa, and the nearly 100 000 deaths that were caused by Covid in South Africa,” he says.
With new cases still being reported daily, this Covid Relief Fund was established with the primary objective of bringing together partnerships that can address the needs of impacted communities and primary healthcare workers.
“At the onset of the pandemic, the SAME Foundation launched a massive Covid-19 response campaign to meet the needs on the ground with the influx and the demand on healthcare facilities around the country,” says Tyrone Pols from SAME Foundation.
He says that it was at this challenging time that Bayer approached the Foundation with the mandate of identifying what the most crucial needs were.One such crucial need was the provision of oxygen concentrators to the Witbank General Hospital in Mpumalanga.
“That is our number one prime drug,” says Dr Louise Roos, Department of Internal Medicine at Witbank General Hospital in Mpumalanga, referring to the fact that patients with severe or critical Covid pneumonia require high flow oxygen. “Without it, we wouldn’t be able to run a Covid unit”.
As part of the support at Witbank General Hospital, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was also provided. “With proper PPE and infection control, we could keep patients safe as well as hospital staff safe”.
In order to assist with the facilitation and demand for vaccines to help curb the pandemic, the Bayer Covid-19 Relief Fund provided vaccine refrigeration to Queen Nandi Regional Hospital in Empangeni, KwaZulu Natal.
“Covid-19 just brought every single gap and problem that we had to the fore. We had all the effects of the pandemic. We had to struggle with equipment, we had to struggle with PPE, and we lost quite a few staff members to Covid-19,” says Dr Menitha Sanjowan, Acting CEO at Queen Nandi Regional Hospital, a facility that serves a rural impoverished demographic of approximately 2,6 million patients.
“Vaccines have been the only way that we will be able to get out of the pandemic and the only way that we will be dealing with Covid in years to come,” she says. The hospital was initially unable to store the vaccines allocated to them due to lack of refrigeration facilities and had to turn many patients away.
“From the time the freezer has been here, the vaccine roll out has been magnificent. We have had positive feedback from the community. We have had patients come to us from as far as Pietermaritzburg, Hillcrest, Ballito and Durban. It has been extremely efficient. We didn’t have huge queues and we found ways to manage. It’s been exceptional,” she says.
Queen Nandi Regional Hospital has to date vaccinated over 18 500 people.When it comes to mental health, the last two years has highlighted the severe impact that the pandemic has had on the mental health of our primary healthcare workers.
“A programme to address mental health has been established along with ICAS where we have well trained professionals in the field of psychology, social healthcare workers and coaches that are really helping to address the mental health of our primary healthcare workers,” Eckstein explains.
ICAS, a leading global provider of wellness services, provides services to support the physical and mental health of employees.
“We have over 81 000 employees, we usually do not have enough resources to meet the demand that is out there and often we look outside in terms of ensuring that the workforce itself is healthy,” says Motalatale Modiba, Head of Communication at the Gauteng Department of Health.
Dr Sipho Senabe, Chief Director of the Human Resource Development (HRD) and the Employee Health and Wellness Programme (EHWP) at the Gauteng Department of Health says that burn out is a huge problem that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
“People are overworked, they work long hours, and this impacts on pre-existing mental conditions that health workers have. Programmes such as this have been very helpful in lessening the burden of those who care for the carers,” he says.
While the services of professionals such as social workers, occupational medical practitioners, occupational nurse practitioners and industrial psychologists are vital to ensure the health of the workforce, the department does not have adequate numbers of these specialists, which is what makes this relief fund so important.
This mental health support includes unlimited telephonic counselling and support services to healthcare workers over a three-month period and is provided exclusively by a team of registered professionals in all 11 official languages.
“We want to really express our gratitude to the SAME Foundation in partnership with Bayer for having provided this much needed psychosocial support,” Senabe says.To date, over R3 million has been allocated to the provision of oxygen concentrators, respiratory masks and vaccine fridges and freezers as well as mental health support.
Bayer remains committed to help navigate this challenging time, by standing next to those in need and at the frontline, providing our resources and expertise.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has had and will continue to have a devasting impact around the world. It is paramount that we remain focused on continuing to use our influence and resources, as well as our compassion and commitment to social responsibility, to support and help communities worldwide,” Eckstein says.
