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Long-awaited help for the TB dispensary

September 3, 2019, 10:30 282 Author: Yana Lobanok helpus.org.ua Zapozizhzhia region occupies one of the first places in Ukraine in terms of tuberculosis incidence. To heal the sick and stop the spread of Koch's bacillus is the main task of the specialists of the regional TB dispensary.

The work of the staff is complicated by the fact that much of the equipment is outdated, as it was purchased several decades ago. So, the X-ray machine has already celebrated more than one of its tenth anniversary, and it would be time to retire it - but the cost of modern digital equipment amounts to hundreds of thousands of hryvnias. Now imagine developing each film manually, which takes about thirty minutes and a lot of water. The patient is forced to wait half an hour for the finished picture, possibly infecting others. And at the end of the month, the dispensary is billed huge bills for cubic meters of water. Due to errors in manual development, sometimes you have to redo the images, exposing patients to an extra dose of radiation and spending even more resources. Indeed, the detection of the disease and the correctness of the chosen treatment tactics directly depend on the clarity of the resulting image.

While waiting for funding from the state, the clinic's management is looking for other ways to purchase equipment. Thus, in close cooperation with the experts Helpus - Ukrainian Adult Assistance Fund, a grant application for participation in the competition of microprojects from Consulate General of Germany in Donetsk. With financial assistance from the Consulate, a Kodak processor was purchased. Films are now developed in 30 seconds! Cubic meters of water are saved, and, accordingly, the funds of the dispensary, which will now be redirected to providing medical supplies to patients.

In the last week of the outgoing summer, a meeting was held between the Deputy Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Peter Schmal, employees of the Anti-TB Dispensary, headed by Chief Physician Oleksandr Tishchenko, representatives of Helpus - the Ukrainian Adult Assistance Fund, a representative of the Zapozizhzhia Regional Council, Yegor Semenkov, and Marina Volovik from the Health Department. New equipment was solemnly presented, warm words of gratitude were heard. We thank the Consulate General of Germany in Donetsk for the trust placed in the Charity Fund "Helpus", as well as for the opportunity to use modern equipment for medical institutions in Zapozizhzhia! We believe that our acquaintance will grow into strong friendship and cooperation!