• The 7 ECG machines were procured at a total cost of K272, 800.
• They are expected to be distributed 6 sub-districts in Lusaka district including 1 for Chilanga district.
• Lusaka Province is one of the provinces with the highest prevalence of TB
Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) says it has procured seven Electrocardiogram (ECG) machines worth K272, 800 and are expected to be distributed to six sub-districts in Lusaka district including one in Chilanga district.
Speaking at the official handover ceremony of the machines to Lusaka Provincial Health Office, Centre Director Tuberculosis (TB) programs, Dr. Monde Muyoyeta thanked Ministry of Health for its continued partnership with CIDRZ in the quest to ensure a Zambia and region, in which all people have access to quality healthcare.
Dr Muyoyeta, who is also Chief of Party Tuberculosis Local Organisations Network (TBLON) project, said it is the organization’s hope that the seven ECG machines will contribute towards the managing of the multi-drug resistant TB.
“As CIDRZ, we hope that the seven (7) ECG machines will contribute towards the managing of the multi-drug resistant TB,” Dr. Muyoyeta said.
She noted that the handover of ECG machines has been made possible with support from USAID through the TBLON project which is part of what is referred to as the global accelerator program for Tuberculosis.
“This targets countries like Zambia which are high burden countries for tuberculosis and have been added to benefit from extra resources to support TB response programs. Monitoring of patients with drug resistant TB with the ECG machines will go a long way in improving their outcomes,” she added.
And Lusaka Provincial Health Director, Dr. Consity Mwale said the Province is one of the regions with the highest prevalence of TB in the country.
Speaking in a speech read on his behalf by Head of Health Promotions, Environment and Social Determinants, Dr. Chola Chongo, Dr. Mwale thanked CIDRZ for donating the ECG machines to the province and promised to take good care of them and use the equipment in ensuring that they reach out to the communities in the province.
He further explained that the Ministry of Health through the national TB and Leprosy program had prioritized innovations such as ECG, Urine LAM, gene Xpert and others as critical tools in TB screening, diagnosis and management of patients.
“Lusaka Province is one of the provinces with the highest prevalence of TB in the country and as a province, we have seen an increase in the number of extrapulmonary TB such as TB pericarditis being recorded among the TB patients,” Dr. Mwale said.
An ECG machine helps doctors to quickly evaluate the performance of the heart by diagnosing the cause of chest pains and other heart related complications.