BUDDHA’S Light International Association of Solomon Islands has come to the aid of the Good Samaritan Hospital on Guadalcanal, providing life-saving equipment to detect early onset of anaemia.
Anemia or anaemia is a problem of not having enough healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin to carry oxygen to the body’s tissues. Hemoglobin is a protein found in red cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to all other organs in the body.
Having anemia can cause tiredness, weakness and shortness of breath, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Good Samaritan Nurse Manager Glence Faka, received the life-saving gift at the joint Buddha’s Birthday and the Mother’s Day celebration on Sunday.
Among the guests who witnessed the donation were Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele and four of his ministers and senior government officials.
Nurse Faka then told of two maternal related deaths attributed to anaemia early this year.
“Both deaths could have been prevented,” she said.
One was of a mother of seven in her 30s who died at the National Referral Hospital at the end of March this year.
She was rushed there from the Good Samaritan Hospital. The distance was a factor.
The other a young mother in her 20s had two children. She also died at the NRH after she was rushed there.
“It was a tragedy which could have been avoided if the hospital had the means to detect the early onset of anaemia. Now that we have the means, we can help save mothers and others from preventable deaths,” Nurse Faka said.
She said she is grateful for the tiny hand-held equipment, otherwise known as hemoglobinometer or haemoglobinometer – a medical device used to measure hemoglobin concentration in blood.
The equipment can operate by spectrophotometric measurement of hemoglobin concentration. Portab hasle hemoglobinometers provide easy and convenient measurement of hematological variables, especially in areas where clinic laboratories are unavailable.
Nurse Faka said the Good Samaritan Hospital at Tetere is grateful for the donation.
“It will help us to detect the early onset of anaemia,” she said.
Speaking at the event, President Hii Yii Ging, spoke of the mission of Buddha’s Light International Association of Solomon Islands.
“Our mission is to expand the understanding of the principles of Humanistic Buddhism throughout the world, benefit society through charitable programs, foster talents through education, as well as cultivate purity in the hearts and minds.
“I am proud that today we can put on this event for the community to enjoy,” he said.
“Regardless of background or personal beliefs, we can all come together in the spirit of harmony, respect and compassion to embody the Three Acts of Goodness: Think Good Thoughts, Speak Good Words, Do Good Deeds, as advocated by the founding master of Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order – Venerable Master Hsing Yun,” Mr, Hii said.
The Good Samaritan Hospital is one of a few government-funded hospitals in the rural area. It has a laboratory but it remains unused because there are no technicians to operate it.
An Isolation and Incinerator facilities were recently installed at the hospital under World Bank funding.
By Alfred Sasako
