International waste management company Averda has entered into a strategic partnership with African disaster response nongovernmental organisation (NGO) Gift of the Givers, to provide necessary medical waste management services to its mobile testing stations across the country free of charge for the duration of the current lockdown period.

This will provide crucial support to healthcare facilities that are already stretched to capacity.

Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman believes that providing assistance to the government and to society's most vulnerable, sets an example to the country’s NGOs to actively participate in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Our mobile testing station initiative will assist government in meeting the diagnostic demands of Covid-19 by providing the National Institute of Communicable Diseases approved lab testing at discounted rates,” he says.

The large quantity of infected medical waste generated by testing for this highly contagious virus means that efficient waste management of high-risk healthcare isolation waste and disposal is critical.

On a pro bono basis, Averda will manage the disposal of contaminated waste from these mobile testing stations which have been established by the Gift of the Givers in key locations across the country.

Averda CEO Malek Sukkar says Averda will supply waste containers to all testing stations and provide training and skills development on waste storage and disposal to staff at these testing stations.

He notes that this will enable the safety and protection of healthcare workers.

Sukkar believes the Covid-19 pandemic constitutes an unprecedented challenge for all of humanity and that meeting and overcoming this challenge involves breaking down invisible barriers between the public and private sector, commercial enterprises and NGOs, and businesses and people.

“This virus threatens all of us and so we must all act as one. Averda has the resources and the skill set to remove and manage waste safely, protecting hygiene standards, which is key to fighting the virus. We are ready to serve; and we are in active and productive discussions about how we can best do so."

"We are proud to be working with Averda, which has taken the lead in providing critical services to fill resource gaps that would have detrimental effects on the most vulnerable communities, if not addressed,” says Sooliman.