On 14 May 2021, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Republic of Zambia Mr. Radek Rubeš,  Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health Dr. Kennedy Malama and Senior Medical Superintendent University Teaching Hospital - Adult Dr. Charles Mutemba signed a contract for a donation of medical equipment to the Intensive Care Unit at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka.

As medical facilities in Zambia were struggling to accommodate high numbers of patients with COVID-19, also the UTH Intensive Care Unit was put under increased strain on its capacities and equipment. Therefore, the Embassy of the Czech Republic together with the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Zambia identified jointly the provision of specialized medical equipment as the best way to help Zambia combat the COVID -19 crisis.

The donation includes 25 ICU beds, UV disinfectors, electrocoagulators and medical furniture in a total amount of approximately 10 million ZMW. The project is financed by the Czech Development Agency. The beds are provided by the Czech company Linet, one of the world’s leading producers of hospital beds. They are produced according to the highest EU standards and will offer a wide range of advanced features for patients with various needs. The other equipment comes from other Czech manufacturers. The new equipment shall be installed and put into service in June 2021.

“I am glad that the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs has mobilized funds to support  Zambian health system in these challenging times and that we could use extensive know-how of Czech companies in this sector”, says Ambassador Rubeš. “Zambia remains one of priority countries of our development cooperation and although our current projects in Zambia focus mainly on agriculture, we have a history of health-related projects too, as was the reconstruction and equipment of the Lewanika General Hospital in Mongu. Since the COVID -19 outbreak, we have complemented our activities in Zambia with multi-sectoral interventions to contain the spread, mitigate the impacts and increase the resilience of affected communities in Zambia. This is also a part of common effort of the EU and its Member States to support Zambia in a holistic way, both in emergency response, strengthening health systems and mitigating economic and social impacts of the crisis, within our “Team Europe” approach.”