Medscheme Delivers a R100 000 Neonatal Incubator to New Somerset Hospital

The Medscheme Group has a delivered a much-needed incubator, worth R100 000, to New Somerset Hospital's Neonatal Unit. This support reiterates Medscheme's commitment towards providing holistic health care and uplifting the communities in which it operates, allowing for good corporate citizenship.

New Somerset Hospital is one of South Africa's oldest hospitals and a national heritage site, serving a vast geographical area, with approximately 7 000 mothers giving birth each year and an average of 120 children being served in the wards daily.

These incubators help to keep prematurely born babies alive by providing them with better temperature support, reducing the likelihood of infections, respiratory support, as well specialised feeding.

Each year, approximately four million infants die worldwide in the first four weeks of life. The vast majority of these neonatal deaths take place in under-resourced countries, such as those in sub-Saharan Africa. These deaths can be avoided with infant incubators.

"Despite improvements in technology and a reduction in the child mortality rate, there remains an ongoing need for incubators at our hospitals," says the Western Cape Minister of Health, Theuns Botha. "We are extremely grateful for this generous donation by Medscheme that will give these babies a second chance at life."

Botha added that the participation of the private sector in health care is vital to enable hospitals such as New Somerset to maintain their service levels. "This forms part of our wellness strategy. With the private sector on board, we are just able to offer so much more. Financial support just gives us that edge to leverage our plans to create affordable and accessible healthcare to all South Africans. Medscheme's donation is one example of how the private sector can help the public sector to revitalise and equip our facilities."

Yvonne Motsisi, Medscheme Executive Director for Transformation and Communications, commented: "Our social and economic development initiatives are at the heart of our business operations and part of the reason we remain a proud level 3 BBBEE contributor. In celebration of 40 years of quality healthcare administration in South Africa, we are proud to partner with New Somerset Hospital in living up to its motto of "Serving the Community".