17 Feb 2022

 Debswana Jwaneng Mine Hospital on Wednesday launched a P3.5 million oxygen plant and an electronic pharmacy (e-pharmacy) which have been hailed as timely in the COVID-19 pandemic era.

Officiating at the launch, Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Edwin Dikoloti said the two projects would go a long way in saving people’s lives, especially from the pandemic.

“As bad as the pandemic is, at least we have some take homes from it that we can be proud of, among them being these two projects. We can hail them as some of the successes and legacies of the COVID-19 era,” he said.

He said the two projects had the potential to help revitalise the health care system adding that government was open to benchmarking from the hospital.

Dr Dikoloti said the need for an oxygen plant became apparent around July to August last year, when the pandemic was at its peak and claimed the most lives, which could have been saved were it not for shortage of oxygen.

He said the fact that Debswana Jwaneng Mine managed to procure machinery for the plant when it was in short supply worldwide  showed the country’s seriousness in saving human lives.

The plant can produce about 500 litres of concentrated oxygen per minute and has the capacity to supply nationwide.

On the e-pharmacy, Dr Dikoloti said it was in line with government’s digitalisation efforts   

The hospital’s superintendent, Dr Rachel Seleke-Motsu said the e-pharmacy, the first of its kind in Botswana, would give patients the freedom to collect medication at their convenience, even after hours.

“Before the advent of this pharmacy, our employees would spend a long time in queues awaiting medication.

This affected productivity, so we had to find something that was efficient. Apart from that, the pharmacy will also reduce congestion and the risk of infection,” she said.

Under the 24-hour system, patients are sent a one-time pin that they punch on an LCD screen which opens a post office box-like locker where a patient would collect their prescription

Meanwhile, Debswana Jwaneng general manager, Mr Koolatotse Koolatotse applauded mine employees for the resilience they had exhibited since the outbreak of COVID-19.

He said at the peak of the pandemic, the mine operated at about 65 per cent of the total work force but still managed profit.

The mine-owned and run Acacia Primary School managed to attain 100 per cent pass rate in the last PSLE results, he noted. ENDS