KIGALI - Kanombe Military Hospital (KMH), a 43-year old facility offering health care services to the military and the general public, yesterday, unveiled five state of the art operating theatres.The Minister of Defence, James Kabarebe, officiated at the ceremony. “The theatres have state-of-the-art PVC covering of all floors and walls in the operating areas. This cover can be washed thoroughly to minimize the risk of infection,” Gen. Kabarebe said.
KIGALI - Kanombe Military Hospital (KMH), a 43-year old facility offering health care services to the military and the general public, yesterday, unveiled five state of the art operating theatres.
The Minister of Defence, James Kabarebe, officiated at the ceremony.
"The theatres have state-of-the-art PVC covering of all floors and walls in the operating areas. This cover can be washed thoroughly to minimize the risk of infection,” Gen. Kabarebe said.
Operation Eyesight Universal (OEU), a Canadian-based organization working to see a world free of avoidable blindness supported the project.
He thanked OEU for partnering with the ministry in rehabilitating and modernizing the new theatres.
PVC is a special lightweight noncorrosive material utilized to inhibit bacterial and fungal growth.
"These are the first theatres in the whole country with this feature. The theatres still need to be equipped and furnished and I hope we shall continue to work together to ensure that any gaps are filled.”
KMH head, Lt. Col. Dr. Ben Karenzi, said: "One will be for orthopaedics and another one for diseases of the eye (ophthalmology), while the other three will be general surgery operating theatres”.
"Normally, operating theatres address all issues, but we have special operating theatres for issues of ophthalmology and orthopaedics. We normally don’t mix those theatres with other general operations. That’s why those ones have special rooms,” Karenzi told The New Times.
Since 2005, through collaboration with OEU, the eye unit at KMH worked to eliminate needless blindness in Eastern Province.
The unit has performed over 2,500 sight restoring operations for Rwandans.
Lynda Cherry, an OEU representative, said: "we hope that all the patients who require surgical services will have a better operating theatre to be served from”.
"Our objective is to help build essential resources that give everybody access to the eye care they need. Our focus on high-quality, comprehensive eye care is designed to ensure sustainable service for entire communities, with long-lasting results,” she said.
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