Essential Medical Equipment for the Solomon Islands

Help us purchase essential medical equipment for the Solomon Islands.

We are seeking $10,000 to create ‘Wound dressing packs’ for the National Referral Hospital in the Solomon Islands. Wound dressing packs are ready-to-use kits containing the basic equipment for cleaning and dressing wounds. Each pack consists of two flat head forceps, one set of toothed forceps, a kidney dish & material to wrap the equipment in. All of the equipment in the packs can be continuously re-sterilised and re-used, making this a sustainable, long-term solution with a lasting impact.

The goal of $10,000 will fund the creation of 320 dressing packs – one for each patient at the hospital. Money will also be used to cover medical equipment freight from New Zealand suppliers.

Management of wounds at the National Referral Hospital is difficult due to severe resource shortages. Nurses often have no choice but to use one dressing pack to treat six patients instead of one as intended. This can cause harmful bacteria to spread, leading to worse patient outcomes. This is all easily preventable with safe, clean standards of care.

The availability of more wound care equipment will aid efforts to combat hospital-acquired infections, prevent the spread of multi-resistant organisms and reduce the risk of infection to vulnerable patients. Implementing this small change will make a monumental difference to the lives of hundreds of people.