Honourable Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khuphe handed over the recently refurbished Mpilo Hospital in Zimbabwe to the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare last month, under the Health Facilities Refurbishment Project, part of the wider DFID-funded Emergency Health Programme.
Crown Agents has procured and installed essential medical supplies at Mpilo and six further hospitals under the project since 2009, ensuring all refurbishment work complied with civil, mechanical and environmental standards and helped the government to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, the honourable deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khuphe, a firm advocate for scrapping consultation fees for pregnant women, promised her continued support and said that "giving birth is performing a national duty and no woman should die while giving life".
Khuphe praised Crown Agents' excellent execution of the project and congratulated us for winning the Development category at the British Expertise International Awards for the Zimbabwe Health Worker Retention project. "I thank you all for raising the hopes of the people in Zimbabwe that indeed change is possible," she said.
Other guests at the handover ceremony included the Honourable Minister of Health Dr Henry Madzorera; Honourable Minister of Public Works, Hon. Joel Gabuza and his Worship the Mayor of Bulawayo, Cllr Thaba Moyo.
The successful completion of the project has benefited six further hospitals - Harare Central Hospital, United Bulawayo Hospital, Mutare Provincial Hospital, Masvingo Provincial Hospital, Gweru Provincial Hospital and Rusape District Hospital - by providing hot food and water for inpatients; steam for sterilisation; clean laundry and safe incineration of hospital disposables.