NHS Glasgow and Clyde to provide Malawi hospital with essential medical equipment
They have teamed up with medical firm Olympus to help fight oesophegal cancer
A health board is to provide desperately-needed medical equipment to a hospital in Malawi.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has joined forces with medical firm Olympus to provide equipment to tackle oesophageal cancer in the east African country.
Health experts say the availability of equipment and the training of local clinicians can "significantly improve" the outcome for patients.
Professor Adrian Stanley, consultant gastroenterologist at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, said: "Quite simply, these endoscopes, which would otherwise have ended up being decommissioned and scrapped, will help doctors in Malawi save many lives."
Over the past six years, Professor Stanley has made regular trips to deliver equipment and regular training in Malawi.
Five endoscopes, used to diagnose and treat upper gastrointestinal cancer and bleeding, have been donated by Olympus.
Umar Butt, territory manager for Olympus, said: "It's incredibly satisfying to support a cause such as this and see how much of a difference medical equipment can make to people's lives in countries such as Malawi, especially when it comes to diagnosing and treating cancer."
The health board has a policy of donating any older, unused equipment to Malawi, once tested as safe and functioning by its medical physics team.
NHSGGC chairman John Brown said: "I am delighted that this equipment, which we no longer need, will be put to good use in Malawi, a country which has only one doctor per 100,000 people.