In Nata, Botswana on the African continent medical supplies are scarce. The tiny clinic that serves the population of this remote village has learned to make do with whatever they can find. In December the staff posted a plea for funds to buy a new stove. They had been using an old fashioned pressure cooker to sterilize medical instruments. When the gas stove finally broke down they could no longer perform even simple surgical procedures. Turning away patients in need was heartbreaking since the nearest surgical hospital is 120 miles distant – an impossible journey for impoverished villagers. Instruments now have to be sent to the nearest location with a sterilizer (60 miles away in Gweta). Transporting the sterile items over such long distances greatly increases the risk that they will be re-contaminated during the journey back.
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