July 9, 2008
July 9, 2008, Managua, Nicaragua
Salud del Sol News
Lori Hanna, Salud del Sol’s Executive Director; Anna Young, Salud del Sol’s Director of Development; and Susan Kinne, Director of Grupo Fenix, met with MINSA, Nicaragua’s Ministry of Health on July 9, 2008 at El Complejo Nacional de Salud (The National Health Complex), named Concepción Palacia, in Managua. Dr. Jorge Orochena S., the Director of Services Organization, from the Health Services Department, and the team met for an hour. Dr. Orochena gave his blessings and endorsed the continuance of the Salud del Sol autoclave project.
In addition to this important step of gaining permission from the National Government, the meeting involved useful knowledge sharing. The team gathered other valuable statistical data on the clinics throughout Nicaragua. After the team’s technical explanation of the autoclave and it’s workings, Dr. Orochena praised the idea for its utility in health clinics without electricity—the great majority of the clinics in the country. He is only aware of about 10 of 935 clinics that do not have good access to direct sunlight. He readily acknowledged the environmental benefits of such a device and discussed ideas for the device itself, including the importance of an alarm or other method to verify sterilization.
Dr. Orochena will be the team’s channel to other governmental departments. He described the steps required to get official clearance for the device. The first task will be for Salud del Sol to prepare a technical proposal to the Director of Planning who ensures the quality of attention and services. He recommended organizations to contact, including UNICEF and WHO, to raise support and awareness for the autoclave.
Finally, Dr. Orochena informed the team of an upcoming study on infrastructure needs in multiple health provision units. He promised to emphasize the importance of questions regarding sterilization of medical instruments, which he believes is critical to raise enthusiasm for the project. The Ministry of Health’s budget is assembled in July for the following year; Salud del Sol efforts to get the autoclave put in the budget for 2010 must be approved by July 2009.
Send inquiries about this Salud del Sol activity to info@saluddelsol.org.