Vanuatu Beverage Donates to VCH

By Josepheen Tarianga

A VCH doctor and nurse illustrating how the spacer made with Vanuatu Water bottles and Salbutamol spray is used

Vanuatu Beverage Limited (VBL) has donated 200 Vanuatu water bottles to the Vila Central Hospital (VCH), as spacer bottles are being encouraged for asthma patients.

According to Dr. Vincent Atua of the VCH, the VCH has been encouraging patients suffering from asthma to utilize spacer bottles. These are made with empty plastic bottles with a salbutamol spray attached to a hole made at the bottom of the bottle.

This is a mobile, easy access, way for asthma patients to breathe in the medicinal aerosols released by the salbutamol spray as the spacer carries the medicine deeply into their lungs.

This makes the spacer an effective treatment of asthma. The doctors are pushing the spacer as treatment in case of a community outbreak of COVID-19 and the nebulizer machine at the hospital will not be functioning as a treatment for asthma.

Dr. Atua explains that if a patient has COVID-19, has an asthma attack and uses the nebulizer machine, the machine releases aerosols into the air as well as taints the mask so that everyone will get COVID-19.

“We have been encouraging people to use the spacer since 2019. The nurse that helped initiate this in 2019 had made an arrangement with the Vanuatu Beverage to provide us with Water bottles. This is the 3rd year that Vanuatu Beverage has donated water bottles, 200 water bottles for the spacers,” says Dr. Atua.

VBL has been an active donor to the VCH and says that it will continue to do so in aid of the work VCH does.

Additionally, Dr. Atua emphasizes that the VCH has received many donations to help its work and function acknowledging the donations BSP has made in chairs for the emergency department and the work of Giving hands Vanuatu among the help VCH has received.

Giving Hands Vanuatu has aided VCH in preparing a storage area for COVID-19 gear for the nurses and doctors. This is equipped with a full mirror, and signage that directs and advises for the proper removal of personal protective equipment in the case of COVID-19 community outbreak.

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