Labexchange Donates Haematology Analyser to Charity Clinic in Burkina Faso

The Labexchange Foundation – Wolfgang-Kuster-Stiftung has donated a Siemens Advia 120 haematology analyser to the St Marcel non-profit outpatient clinic in Burkina Faso.

The head of the clinic, Dr Compaore, approached Labexchange at the beginning of the year, asking for support in the form of a haematology analyser for the St Marcel community outpatient clinic in Zinairé.

The majority of Zinairé’s inhabitants are poor farmers who lack food and adequate medical care. Malaria and Aids, parasitic diseases and anaemia are the main diseases which characterise day-to-day medical care at the clinic. Chronic anaemia means that the rate of infant mortality is very high. In order to contribute to a reduction in infant mortality, it is necessary to perform systematic, preventive blood count analysis of children.

Each day, around 100 analyses are carried out at the clinic’s rudimentarily equipped laboratory. In times of epidemic, this number can be as high as 200, and rising. Since inhabitants of the surrounding villages now also come to the St Marcel outpatient clinic for treatment, the capacity of the laboratory is quickly exhausted – a further reason why the Siemens Advia 120 is so desperately needed. The promotion of medical care in poorer countries, as well as support for such institutions, are causes which are particularly close to the heart of the Labexchange Foundation.

The clinic is operated by the Omnia Pro Medico organisation, which was also founded by Dr Compaore and serves exclusively charitable purposes, financed by donations, external funds and its own economic activities. A broad spectrum of care issues are covered, from general health care, awareness programmes, the treatment of leprosy, tuberculosis, malaria and Aids patients to the treatment of kidney disease and performance of haemodialysis.