Projects
The Heineken Africa Foundation aims at supporting the improvement of health for people living in Sub-Saharan African communities by financially supporting relevant health projects and health-related education. Projects are carried out in countries in which Heineken is operating and with the support of a 3rd party; an NGO, a governmental organisation or a commercial business.
Click on a country for more information on running projects
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Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal and child mortality rates in the world. Women are vulnerable, because they are primary care-givers for the family.
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South Africa
In South Africa, health care is provided by both the public sector and a smaller private sector. Mostly, basic primary health care is provided free by the state and highly specialised private health care services are available for those who can afford it.
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Community Health Centre in the district of Bugendana
The construction of a Community Health Centre in Burundi aims at improving access to primary health care for the community of Bugendana, a rural district in the province of Gitega, which is the location of one of the breweries of Brarudi.
Since there are no roads to the village, this community is very isolated. In addition to this, no school facilities are provided or any basic facilities such as electricity or water. Although most inhabitants in this region include subsistence farmers, there are no markets that provide them with the opportunity to trade. Political instability and insecurity during the past few years have further deteriorated social and economic development.
As there is no health centre in the village, inhabitants need to travel for at least three hours on foot to reach the nearest hospital. Information on HIV or Aids nor obstetric care are available. People who need treatment have little resources to pay for medical expenses. Although the Government is supposed to support the most vulnerable in their medical expenses, this does not work in practice. The health care sector is plagued by substantial funding shortfalls.
Because of this situation, the inhabitants of Bugendana have requested the Government to participate in the construction of a health centre. In response, the Government has promised a piece of land for this clinic and they have indicated their willingness to pay for qualified medical staff. Yet medicine, drugs and consumables need to be supplied, in which the clinics of the Heineken Africa Foundation will play a role.
Objectives
The project aims at contributing to the construction of a Community Health Centre
in order to provide medical care. It includes the construction of the health centre
itself and a dispensary. It also aims at stocking a pharmacy and to guarantee the
continuation of the supply of medicine and consumables. The project also proposes
to employ permanent staff and to create a qualified management team. Although
the success of this clinic will for a large part depend on the management to be
appointed, the political stability of Burundi and governmental support for sufficiently
trained staff will also have an impact on its success.
This project will be a collaboration of the Burundi Ministry of the Interior, who will provide the plot of land, the Ministry of Health, who will supply properly trained staff, representatives of the local community and the Brarudi brewery. Further expertise will also be derived from a representative of the local United Nations organisation. The planning of the construction of this clinic will be carried out in collaboration with the Supply Chain Management of Brarudi.
The Management Committee of the clinic will include representatives from each organisation or group. At the end of each year, the Management Committee, in collaboration with representatives of the Heineken Africa Foundation, will review progress and development of the project. Supervisory visits will be organised and internal and external audits will be carried out. Reports will be produced on progress and on further recommendations.
Medical care of infant anaemia in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
Sickle-cell anemia (SCA), or drepanocytosis, is a genetic life-long blood disorder characterised by red blood cells that assume an abnormal, sickle shape, which tend to form clumps and get stuck in the blood vessels. The ‘c-shaping’ or sickling, decreases the cells' flexibility and is caused by a mutation of the haemoglobin gene. The clumps of sickle cells block blood flow in the blood vessels that lead to the limbs and organs. Blocked blood vessels can cause pain, serious infections and organ damage.
Sickle cell anaemia varies from person to person. Some people who have the disease have chronic (long-term) pain or fatigue (tiredness). The pain along with anaemia lead to absenteeism at school. As a result, SCA leads to analphabetism and underdevelopment in general. In some settings, these SCA children are considered as troublemakers as they are always sick. For that reason, some parents hide their ill children to avoid this stigmatisation. However, with proper care and treatment, many people who suffer from the disease can have improved quality of life and reasonable health much of the time.
Yet life expectancy of SCA sufferers is shortened, with studies reporting an average life expectancy of 42 and 48 years for males and females, respectively.
Sickle-cell disease, usually presenting in childhood, occurs more commonly in people (or their descendants) in tropical and sub-tropical regions where malaria is or was common. One-third of all indigenous inhabitants of Sub-Saharan Africa carry the gene.
Healthy, circular-shaped cells
and abnormal, sickle-shaped cells.
According to WHO recommendations (Executive Board 117/34, 2005), dedicated centres are required in order to ensure adequate prevention and treatment. Sickle-cell anemia can effectively be prevented. Adoption of preventive measures goes hand-in-hand with health education: couples at risk of having affected children can be identified by inexpensive and reliable blood tests; youth and scholar education can discourage marriage between couples who are at risk; mass media education will reduce discrimination. The use of mosquitoes’ nets and penicillin, coupled with specific vaccines will reduce early mortality. Elsewhere, neonatal diagnosis is useful where appropriate counseling is available and adequate primary care can be provided to those affected.
Target groups include infants aged under 5 years and their mothers in Mont Ngafula, a semi-urban area in South Kinshasa - which has a population of 300,000 inhabitants - and in surrounding regions. At least 5,000 newborns will be screened, as well as approximately 300 infants currently suffering from sickle-cell anemia.
The project, supported by the Heineken Africa Foundation, is carried out at the Monkole Hospital Centre, which is a General Referee Hospital in Mont Ngafula, associated with a nurses’ school and a medical educational center. It has great expertise on sickle-cell disease: a systematic screening of approx 35,000 newborns has been carried out over a 3-year period and revealed a prevalence of SCA infants. More than 200 SCA patients were actually treated and a good SCA management programme has been implemented in the Mont Ngafula region.
The contract for the blood bank and its activities is signed by Dr Tshilolo Leon (l),
Medical Doctor at Monkole Hospital Centre, and Hans van Mameren (r), General Manager
of Bralima, Kinshasa,
while Dr Charles Kitenge, Medical Director of Bralima, looks on.
Objectives
In order to protect the sickle-cell anemia patients against risks related to blood transfusions, early diagnosis of
SCA (in newborns and infants) and implementation of a local blood bank has been set up in Monkole Hospital Centre,
a semi-urban Referee Hospital in Kinshasa. This programme aims at implementing early diagnosis programmes and comprehensive
SCA management in the Mont Ngafula region. It also aims at reducing the risks related to blood transfusion in SCA patients.
A blood bank unit has been established and a network of volunteer donors has been created in Monkole Hospital Center. The
diagnostic capacities of Monkole laboratories is also improved. An educational programme on sickle-cell disease has been
developed and training has been given to approximately 215 health workers.
Systematic SCA screening will be applied on 5,000 newborns and infants in maternities and Health Centres surrounding Monkole Hospital Centre. In the first quarter of 2010, a total of approximately 630 tests were carried out, of which 100 children were vaccinated after detection. In addition, a follow-up programme has been applied to approximately 60 newly detected SCA patients. Early detection and treatment will reduce the needs of blood transfusion and periodic serological tests (including HIV, Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B viruses) will detect the contaminated patients. Specific measures will be applied in order to reduce complications and mortality in the affected patients.
All the equipment purchased through this sponsorship is used in Monkole laboratories and activities on sickle-cell management is continued, as the Monkole Hospital Centre has a vast experience and expertise in this field. Supplementary funds will be mobilised by the International Community as SCA has just been recognized as a public priority in United Nations.
Performance of the new equipment at Centre’s laboratories enables more biochemical and immunological tests and results from newborn screening will be used for research and scientific publications.
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The equipment purchased through this sponsorship is used in Monkole laboratories.
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A nurse working with the new Minividas, funded by the Heineken Africa Foundation.
Bophelo! Mobile Health Services in Namibia
Namibia covers approximately 824,296 square kilometres but with a population of 2.1 million people has one of the lowest population densities in the world. This makes providing health care services extremely challenging, particularly in a country with an HIV prevalence rate of 15.3% (source: World Bank, 2007) and where more than one in four households live in poverty (source: United Nations Development Programme). One of the greatest challenges for rural communities to access health services is the large distance which has to be covered. The average one-way distance of travel to healthcare facilities is 42 km to reach a mobile clinic, 64 km for clinics, 99 km for specialist doctors, 107 km for hospitals. Average one way travelling distances are 64 km to reach general services.
Since 2008, mobile wellness testing at workplaces has been introduced in Namibia to provide at least basic health care. The Bophelo! Partnership, which is hosted by a partnership among the Namibia Business Coalition on AIDS, PharmAccess Foundation Namibia and the Namibia Institute of Pathology, is exploring avenues to expand the services beyond wellness screening and referral services to the provision of on-site mobile health services, especially to hard to reach rural populations and people working in the agriculture sector. The partnership believes that the involvement of private sector employers is critical to make such an initiative sustainable. The agriculture sector in Namibia is one of the most important economic sectors in Namibia, with the commercial farming sector alone employing 60,000 people and having 70,000 dependents, living on commercial farms. This makes this sector an interesting target for mobile health service provision.
Mobile clinics and a team of wellness assessors.
Objectives
The partnership runs the mobile clinics funded by the project to provide primary health care services to rural communities,
initially in the Karas region and subsequently in the Hardap and Otjozondjupa regions. This project makes it possible for
mobile health services to be delivered to rural communities in Namibia. Remote communities are targeted - which currently
have no health facilities at all - by visiting specific sites on a predefined route every eight weeks. During these visits,
the mobile clinic provides health screening, diagnosis and treatment of basic health conditions, preventative care and
health education. Rural communities on the mobile clinic route also benefit from mobile health service provision. In
Namibia they comprise farmers - commercial and communal - involved in agriculture, livestock production, game production,
tourism or related services.
The aim is also to make the project fully financially sustainable. Over time, local contributions will be made by Namibian employers and the Ministry of Health and Social Services, and ad hoc donations will be attracted for further expansion into the regions.
The aim of the partnership is to support both private and public workplaces through the provision of wellness-related testing at the workplace. The mobile units provide on-site testing of blood pressure, body mass index, blood screening, as well as testing for HIV, Hepatitis B and Syphilis in a single consultation. Pre- and post-test referrals and counselling are provided as part of the service. Individuals receive their wellness results immediately on site, in a confidential personal consultation with a Bophelo! wellness assessor, whilst anonymous statistics of the testing are provided to the organisation at the end of the testing process. Experiences and lessons learnt will be documented and used to modify and improve the services and system used to provide care on an on-going basis.
Mobile clinic parked at Namibia Breweries for wellness screening
'Kill Malaria Dead'
One of the projects that has been approved by the Heineken Africa Foundation is 'Kill Malaria Dead', supported by Consolidated Breweries in Nigeria. The project is aimed at building the capacity of rural dwellers in the communities of Imagbon and Iloti to take responsibility for reducing the spread of malaria. A large number of awareness and counselling visits will be organised to achieve behavioural change with respect to personal hygiene, sanitation and use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets. By using these bed nets, people in rural areas, including pregnant women and children, will be directly protected against incessant malaria attacks.
Statistics show that malaria ranks high among illnesses treated and that between 2004 and 2007 malaria cases have only increased. So far, the effects of government intervention to reduce the spread of malaria have been limited.
The communities in which these projects are conducted are located in Odogbolu and Ijebu-Ode Local Government Areas of Ogun State, Nigeria. They are essentially rural communities in which houses are widely spread out over a vast area with hardly any medical care available. In those areas where clinics are present, the services are often very limited and characterized by erratic supply of drugs and few medical staff. As a result, only a small number of inhabitants can be treated at the available health centres.
Objectives
These bed net projects aim at reducing the prevalence of malaria in targeted
communities by at least 50 per cent. Proper research at the beginning and end of
the project will provide clarity on the progress made. First of all, the consultative
visits are to create a significant behavioural change among rural dwellers with
respect to personal hygiene, sanitation and use of mosquito nets. Relevant
information, education and communication material will be produced in form
of posters, leaflets, stickers and T- shirts. A campaign will be organised for both
communities, which will include large banners that will be featured during public
events in Imagbon and Iloti. Over a period of three years, a total of 4,500 nets will
be distributed in the two communities. In addition, two clinics in each community
will be equipped with medical malaria parasite kits for diagnosis and analysis.
The projects will also underpin responsibilities for maintaining clean drainages, a
clean environment and for ensuring effective use of equipments donated to clinics.
At the end of each year, the impact of the project will be measured by conducting relevant reviews to measure the presence and usage of bed nets and frequency of malaria attacks. Reports will be published on progress made and on further steps to be taken. The projects will be carried out by the Mayflower Center for Preventive Medicine, led by Dr. M. I. Ogayemi, in collaboration with the Human Resources department of Consolidated Breweries Plc.
This centre for preventive medicine has facilitated many health-related projects at schools and companies in different parts of the country, in collaboration with local NGOs. During the past few years, it has also carried out HIV /AIDS awareness campaigns in the workplace as well as malaria prevention and management seminars for employees of Consolidated Breweries, Iddo, Lagos, Nigeria in Lagos State, Imo State and Ogun State. This organization is also fine-tuning a project against smoking in collaboration with some local NGOs.
VVF Clinic in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria
In Northern Nigeria, under-age marriages occur and are culturally accepted. Yet this practice results in a higher than average prevalence of Vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF). This is damage of internal body tissue as a consequence of prolonged obstructed labour. VVF can also be caused by burns from chemicals that are meant to induce labour or initiate abortion. In particular, young females suffer from this condition. Worldwide about 2 million women suffer from VVF, but 80 to 90 per cent is found in Africa. Most cases of VVF can be found in northern Nigeria and other areas of West Africa. Local authorities consider VVF as a major health issue as well as a cultural and social issue. The majority of women who develop fistulas run the risk of permanent incontinence and related consequences. They become isolated because they are abandoned by their husbands and ostracized by their communities because they are unable to have children.
The VVF Centre is part Hajia Gambo-Sawaba General Hospital in Zaria and is the only clinic that treats VVF in Kaduna State, but was in serious need of renovation and upscaling. The VVF Centre is operational and it shares an operation theatre with other hospital departments but could not provide sufficient accommodation to its patients. Adequate or well-functioning surgical facilities were lacking. The medical training centre (ABUTH) that is located approximately forty kilometers away does not treat VVF. However, in 2007 the Centre in Zaria successfully treated 137 VVF cases and in 2008 135 VVF cases, in addition to conducting approximately 600 gynecological or obstetric operations every year.
Preparations are made for the official opening of the VVF clinic.
From left to right: Alhaji Jabiru, Jakada Zazzau, representative of the Emir of Zazzau - Zaria. His Excellency Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, representative of Kaduna State Governor (Mr Patrick I. Yakowa) and Mr. Bala Yesufu Public Affairs Manager (North) Nigerian Breweries Plc.
The VVF Centre is part Hajia Gambo-Sawaba General Hospital in Zaria and is the only clinic that treats VVF in Kaduna State, but it is in serious need of renovation and up scaling. The VVF Centre, which shares an operation theatre with other hospital departments, is currently operational but cannot provide sufficient accommodation to its patients and adequate or well-functioning surgical facilities are lacking. The medical training centre (ABUTH) that is located approximately forty kilometers away does not treat VVF. However, in 2007 the Centre in Zaria successfully treated 137 VVF cases and in 2008 135 VVF cases, in addition to conducting approximately 600 gynecological or obstetric operations every year.
Objectives
The grant of the Heineken Africa Foundation has been used to construct a much-needed additional building equipped with beds and furniture. It also helps to provide equipment for the operation theatre where VVF treatment is carried out. The grant has supported the purchase of furniture, including hospital beds. The hospital has agreed to take over the responsibilities of this Centre on behalf of the government once the project has been concluded.
In addition to this, the project aims at reducing the large number of patients that need to travel to a clinic in Kano, which is more than 200 kilometers away. It also reduces the waiting lists at Gwambo-Sawaba General Hospital, where patients had to wait for periods between six months to two years before they receive treatment. The VVF Centre has a qualified gynecological team under the leadership of Dr Kees Waaldijk, an experienced fistula surgeon, but the government has also promised to employ more gynecologists at the hospital.
Bed nets to control malaria in Rwanda
One of the first projects supported by the Heineken Africa Foundation was announced in August 2009: the production and distribution of bed nets in Rwanda. On behalf of the Heineken Africa Foundation, Jean-François van Boxmeer, Chairman/CEO of Heineken signed an agreement for the purchase and distribution of long-lasting insecticidal nets to help control malaria infection by mosquitoes. This project will assist the country in achieving its target to reduce the malaria burden by increasing the availability and coverage of these bed nets. Pregnant women and children in the environment in which Heineken is operating will particularly benefit from this initiative.
The agreement between Heineken Africa Foundation and Utexrwa is signed.
From left to right: Ms. Corine Karema (Ministry of Health of Rwanda), Mr Raj Rajendran (Utexrwa), Sven Piederiet
(Bralirwa) and Jean-François van Boxmeer (Heineken).
Bed nets provide a good way of controlling malaria for a number of reasons. First of all, they are relatively cheap. At the same time, they are an effective way of protecting people against mosquito bites and the transmission of the parasite that causes malaria; research has shown that nets can reduce the mortality rate from malaria by approximately 20 per cent. Moreover, the use of bed nets is most effective when used in combination with other strategies, including information on how to avoid malaria, better water management and the removal of mosquito breeding grounds.
The agreement, which is financed by the Heineken Africa Foundation, was signed with Utexrwa (Usine des Textiles du Rwanda), a local textile company, which has the infrastructure and capacity to produce the insecticidal nets and complies with World Health Organization standards. New knitting machines will enable Utexrwa to use polyester thread from Asia and knit locally to make net fabric, impregnate and cut and sew them. The raw material used for insecticidal treatment of bed nets, Pyrethrum, is an organic plant that is locally grown in Rwanda. This also enhances local capacity building. Utexrwa is investigating opportunities for expansion of local packaging facilities and it is their aim to use biodegradable packaging material.
This production process provides work to approximately 750 employees. Utexrwa has been awarded for being the best employer (2008) and for ‘creator of employment’ (2009).
Objectives
The Heineken Africa Foundation will support Utexrwa for an investment in equipment for impregnation of insecticides
into the netting material and will purchase the first 140,000 bed nets over a period of three years.
Bayer has been asked to assist in supervising the impregnation process and seeing to the safety and well being of production staff. Bralirwa, Heineken’s operating company in Rwanda, will assist the Rwandese Ministry of Health in distributing the nets through Bralirwa’s logistics capacity. The nets will be handed out through existing health centres in the vicinity of the Heineken breweries in Kigali and Rubavu, as well as through prenatal and vaccination family visits by health advisors.
The project is running well and close to schedule, while quality of both production process and end product is focused on. Quarterly monitoring is implemented. The production of local bed nets as currently carried out in Kigali can be replicated elsewhere. Examples include the conversion of fabric factories, re-schooling employees in the garment industry in other sub Saharan countries and create economies of scale.
Utexrwa, Rwanda.Sewers at work in the mill.
Heineken Africa Foundation receives commendation
from Global Business Coalition
The Global Business Coalition (GBC) has honoured the Heineken Africa Foundation with the 2010 Business Excellence Award. This commendation was awarded for excellence in community investment.
According to GBC, the partnership among the Heineken Africa Foundation, Bayer Environmental Science (ES), the Rwandan Ministry of Health, BRALIRWA brewery and Rwandan textile manufacturer Utexrwa responded to a clear need for bed nets in Rwanda with a sustainable, locally-sourced solution.
Before the partnership began, all anti-malaria bed nets in Rwanda were produced in other countries. The partners focused on transferring technical knowledge to the only textile manufacturer in Rwanda, Utexrwa, so that the company could produce WHO-approved, long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets.
Through the Heineken Africa Foundation, Heineken brought more than 50 years of experience working in Rwanda, along with seed funding for the project, while Bayer ES contributed its knowledge of pesticide production and bed net treatment. Heineken subsidiary Bralirwa brewery also plays a central role in distributing the 140,000 bed nets produced at the Utexrwa factory.
Quality control of the bed nets is being undertaken by Bayer ES laboratories and an expert from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Thailand.
Critical success factors
Fighting disease and creating jobs
Bed net production is highly labour intensive. And the places where nets are needed are often places with a need for
good-paying jobs. The current programme is eventually expected to generate up to 150 new jobs for Rwandans in the near
term. Following a plan to scale up production to 4.5 million nets per year, the enterprise could eventually employ
1,000 people.
Leveraging multiple corporate capabilities
This partnership is an extraordinary example of how companies can contribute their capabilities in complementary
ways. Through the Heineken Africa Foundation, Heineken contributed its deep knowledge of Rwandan business and
government and its beverage distribution networks - which will be used to distribute bed nets as they are produced.
Bayer ES meanwhile put its core competence in pesticide manufacturing and bed net treatment to use in order to build
local capacity.
For further information on GBC see also http://www.gbcimpact.org/
The Prenatal Equipment Project, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal and child mortality rates in the world. Women are vulnerable, because they are primary care-givers for the family. Many of them do not have access to basic health care during pregnancy or when giving birth, increasing the risk of maternal mortality. As a result, thousands of orphans suffer from the consequences. This could be substantially improved if the population had access to better healthcare and relevant treatment.
In collaboration with the Well Woman Clinic of the Melvine Edith Patricia Stuart Trust, this project provides an affordable one-stop health clinic for women, which should improve their general well-being, reduce the maternal and child mortality rate and improve the reproductive health of women.
The Clinic, which ensures a holistic preventive health care at affordable cost, works with collaborative partners to ensure efficient services and a focus on quality. The Clinic promotes women’s health in general and welcomes women from all social backgrounds to register for the Clinic’s programme, which include screening and on/off site referrals for diabetes, obesity, hypertension, sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy and health care consultancy. Programmes such as weight loss, early detection of cancers affecting reproductive health as well as diagnostic procedures for maternal/foetal health are an integral part of these preventive health care services.
The Well Woman Clinic administers the project through its existing Clinic. It employs staff to carry out the relevant functions and ensures proper monitoring and evaluation of the project. Reports at the end of the project provide a description of an ultrasound-screening and archiving programme, including data on referrals and statistics that can serve as an example for other clinics. Treatment recommendations can also be given. This project is expected to serve at least one thousand under-privileged women of child-bearing age between 18 and 45 in the greater Freetown area where the Clinic is located.
Objectives
With the support of the Heineken Africa Foundation, this project provides specific ultrasound equipment, designed for
gynaecology, maternal foetal imaging and obstetrics. The system consists of advanced features that enable computer aided
diagnosis to standardize imaging of the foetal heart and temporal image correlation. Automation helps make this system
relatively easy to use and maintain compared to other ultrasound systems. In addition, an archiving and communications
system is provided, including software to ensure that information from the ultrasound equipment can be stored. This gives
the Clinic two major advantages: it enables images to be acquired at the patient’s convenience and retrieved at a
later time by a qualified radiologist; and the equipment enables the Clinic to maintain an archive of patient data so that
comparisons can be made in the future with baseline images.
Training is an integral part of this project. Four doctors receive training from a qualified Sierra Leonean radiologist with at least 35 years experience in ultrasound services. This is complemented by training a qualified biomedical engineer with a background in medical physics on the use of the specific ultrasound equipment. The training is ongoing for one year and these trained professionals operate the equipment to ensure timely referrals for treatment and prepare adequate information for the reporting process.
It is hoped that by 2012 the project will expand to the provinces outside greater Freetown, so that the Western rural area will also benefit from the services of a mobile ultrasound unit for a much wider coverage in this area and much needed behavioural change.
Dr. George Bernard Fraser, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, chairs the project management committee. Dr Frazer was trained in Aberdeen, Scotland where he was Senior Registrar and Clinical Tutor at the Aberdeen Medical School. He has held various medical positions in Freetown and specialises in fertility management.
For further information about the Well Woman Clinic, see http://wellwomanclinic.org
The GE Voluson 730 Pro Ultrasound system
Demonstration Ultrasonography machine video
Community mobile clinic in Midvaal, South Africa
In South Africa, health care is provided by both the public sector and a smaller private sector. Mostly, basic primary health care is provided free by the state and highly specialised private health care services are available for those who can afford it. Yet the public sector is under-resourced and over-used. People from local communities are often unable to make the journey, in some cases even more than 10 miles, to established clinics.
In some areas this is resolved by providing health care through mobile clinics. However, in the Midvaal Municipal area the quality of these clinics does not meet the required standards. One of the mobile clinics servicing the area is broken, while most of the others are old and not suited to their purpose. Sometimes even privacy cannot be provided. HIV testing and youth consultations cannot be provided, nor are distribution of anti-retroviral medication carried out. The present old mobile clinic sees 660 persons per month in Midvaal. The 3 mobile units allocated to Midvaal local municipality together have to service 10 wards and see a total of 2000 patients per month.
Through the support of the Heineken Africa Foundation, a new mobile clinic is introduced to the Midvaal area, to replace an old, low-quality mobile. It will be staffed and provided with medication by the Sedibeng Health District. This mobile clinic is taken into designated areas once to three times a week. The new clinic will be fully fitted and equipped to provide general health and preventative services. It is expected to be used by around 1,250 patients a month, twice the number that the existing clinics can cope with. A route for the clinic will be to ensure that people have access to the services.
Objectives
This mobile clinic aims at reaching vulnerable groups and patients in the Midvaal district who do not have the resources
for transport to an established clinic — most of whom live in informal settlements more than 10 miles away from an
established clinic. The vehicle will be equipped to dispense general health services including prenatal care, family
planning, well-child services, youth care, chronic diseases treatment, acute primary care, as well as HIV testing, VCT
counselling and the distribution of anti-retroviral medication.
Sedibeng Brewery in Midvaal will take responsibility for maintenance of the clinic to ensure it remains fit for purpose and provides a reliable service. The Sedibeng Health District will ensure medication, staffing, petrol and routing. The Heineken Africa Foundation can grant the required funding for purchasing and equipping the mobile clinic, this tripartite partnership brings the financial, human and technical resources together. The mobile clinic will be operating as part of a larger governmental programme, serving a wide population in the region with various mobile health care clinics.
Providing health care through mobile clinics.