Chinese firm donates medical equipment to Zambia

LUSAKA -- A Chinese company on Friday donated an assortment of medical equipment to the Zambian government aimed at helping it improve health care delivery.

The medical equipment as well as devices and medical disposables, valued at $22,847.71, was donated to the Vice-President's Office during a ceremony held at her office in Lusaka, the Zambian capital.

Jun Zhang, chairman of OK Investments Zambia Limited, said during the ceremony that his company has donated the equipment as well as devices and medical disposables in order to help local health facilities improve health service delivery to the local people.

Despite the company being small, Zhang said the philosophy was to embark on charity work as part of its social corporate responsibility in order to further promote brotherly friendship between Zambia and China.

"We hope sincerely that these donated medical equipment and device and medical disposables this time will facilitate the work of the vice-president to improve medical service conditions and bring beneficial to local patients as well," he said.

Pan Qingjiang, Charge d'Affairs at the Chinese Embassy in Zambia said during the same occasion that it was encouraging that Chinese companies operating in Zambia were involved in ploughing back to the communities where they are operating from.

He hoped that the cooperation and friendship between the two countries will further be cemented by gestures of Chinese firms in fulfilling their social corporate responsibilities.

The Chinese envoy has since urged other Chinese companies operating in Zambia to ensure that they get involved in various social corporate responsibilities as a way of ploughing back to the communities they operate from.

On her part, Zambian Vice-President Inonge Wina said the donation will go a long way in improving health care delivery in various health facilities.

"I am excited to receive this donation and this will go a long way in supplementing government efforts in the provision of health care," she said.

She further thanked the Chinese Embassy in Zambia for encouraging Chinese firms to engage in various social corporate responsibilities, adding that the donated equipment such as gynecology and obstetrics equipment was in short supply in most health facilities in the country.

Among the medical equipment and devices as well as disposables included 15 items of medical equipment and 21 units of devices as well as 16 items of medical disposables.