10 Apr 2020

University of Botswana (UB) has donated 80 litres of hand sanitisers to Sir Ketumile Masire Teaching Hospital. 

The sanitisers were handed over during a short ceremony recently.   A press release from UB says the donation is part of the university’s contribution towards alleviating the surging burden of COVID-19 on the country’s health sector. 

The teaching hospital has been designated as the principal site for management of COVID-19 patients.  

When handing over the sanitisers, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Professor Ishmael Kasvosve, said UB was committed towards playing its role in addressing national challenges through innovations and expertise.   

“UB would continue production of sanitisers to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 because Botswana has been experiencing a critical shortage of hand sanitisers since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic” he said.   

The release indicated that the hospital's commissioning manager, Dr Thato Moumakwa, expressed gratitude for the donation adding that currently, the sanitisers were scarce and expensive.   

He urged UB to increase production and donate more to the hospital saying considering  quantity of the product that would be required by the hospital, the donation would go a long way in reducing the financial burden on the hospital.  

The release further says the production of hand sanitisers was initiated by students of the School of Pharmacy in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Botswana led by the head of School of Pharmacy, Professor Paul Adiukwu, Ms Motshegwana Tebogo, a lecturer in the School of Pharmacy and Laboratory Technicians of the School, Ms Seitebatso Zwinila and Mr Tebogo Gabatlhaolwe.    Ends