The Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) has developed a ventilator which it is testing before trials begin, with the potential of making 40 such gadgets per day, while other tertiary institutions are already producing sanitisers and masks, as they join the fight against Covid-19.
HIT Vice Chancellor Engineer Quinton Kanhukamwe said yesterday that a team of engineers at his institution were working on a ventilator, which they were now improving.
“It’s true that our university has developed a ventilator,” he said.
“Our team is moving at speed to do trials. Be rest assured, we have this innovation and just recently Prof Fanuel Tagwira, Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science, Innovation and Technology Development and Mr Nick Mangwana, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services visited us to see the work we are doing.”
Zimbabwe urgently needs a large number of ventilators and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to help the country fight the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Researchers at HIT and a number of universities in the country are reported to be working on urgent and diverse projects in response to the Covid-19.
All this is expected to help support the country’s healthcare delivery system in the wake of the escalating Covid-19.
Ventilators are crucial to fighting the worst symptoms of Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
They are used to deliver room air or oxygen – enriched gas into the breathing circuit to treat patients with conditions like pneumonia or during mass casualty events.
Globally, there is a massive shortage of ventilators and surgical masks due to the crippling impact of the Covid-19.
The National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo has also been roped in by the Government to do laboratory testing for coronavirus specimens.
NUST will help the National Reference Laboratory in Harare to confirm tests.
Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) has launched a sanitiser production project that will supply the entire Masvingo province.-State media
