Mozambique: NGO donates 3D printed visors to Maputo hospital

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Mozambique: NGO donates 3D printed visors to Maputo hospital

6:45 CAT | 15 Feb 2021

Image: Osuwela

Mozambican NGO Osuwela on Monday said that it will donate to Maputo Central Hospital, the country’s largest unit, 100 individual protection visors against Covid-19 made with a 3D printer donated by Lisbon’s Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

Also read: Portugal / PALOP: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation donates 3D printers; Mozambique will receive five

The 100 visors are the first of a batch of 200 that Osuwela hopes to offer the hospital per month to support health professionals in their daily work to fight Covid-19, according to a note from the NGO.

“This example demonstrates how, through research and development solutions, it is possible to respond to real problems in our daily lives. In this specific case, the need to provide health sector professionals with individual protection equipment, so important in the context we are currently living,” said Osuwela director António Batel.

Lisbon’s Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation delivered two 3D printers and the respective consumables to Osuwela in late 2020.

The support is the result of a competition launched by the foundation to award 3D printing kits to institutions in Portuguese-language countries to develop solutions to support the fight against Covid-19.

3D printers can print 10 visors per day, each one takes about three hours and can be reused, simply by cleaning and replacing the transparent plastic film.

“Once the immediate needs of this health facility are met,” Osuwela intends to extend its support to other public health institutions”.

Osuwela is a Mozambican NGO dedicated to promoting development through training in science.

In Mozambique, the new coronavirus has already killed 535 people out of a total of 50,265 registered cases, of which 63% have recovered, according to the latest update.