By Andrew Wasike
VICTORIA, The Seychelles
Turkey’s aid agency Tuesday donated critical medical equipment to the largest hospital in the East African island nation of Seychelles to help modernize and improve its pediatric health care.
The newly renovated pediatric center at Victoria Hospital in the capital Victoria was officially opened by Turkish Ambassador to Kenya and Seychelles Deniz Eke at a ceremony attended by Seychelles Health Minister Jean-Paul Adam and Ahmet Guc, Nairobi deputy program coordinator of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA).
Speaking at the ceremony, Eke said that the opening of the renovated and fully equipped pediatric center, coming just after Turkey celebrated April 23 National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, will go a long way towards delivering better healthcare for infants and mothers.
“We are doing something very good for the kids, something very important for the kids… to give them better opportunities to obtain higher standards of health care. If we have a healthy young generation, then we will have a better future,” said the ambassador.
Guc, for his part, stressed that through its aid agency TIKA, Turkey has always focused on delivering better health care around the world with a focus on pediatric units, as children are the most vulnerable in most communities.
He added that Turkey will continue to partner with Seychelles in various sectors to improve the lives of the people in both countries.
For his part, the Seychelles health minister thanked the Turkish government, TIKA, and the people of Turkey for contributing to the people of the island archipelago.
“We are very happy … to receive this contribution,” said Adam. “Having a better quality of service in the pediatric sector is a key part of our overall development in the health sector.
“The fact that Seychelles and Turkey are partnering on this issue on the development of our children is recognizing the shared opportunities and challenges that we have.”
The medical devices donated include hospital beds, infusion and perfusion pumps, cardiac monitors, refrigerators, sphygmomanometers, and otoscope sets, among many others.
Direct flights from Seychelles to Turkey
Eke underlined that her country sees Seychelles as an important partner with a huge potential for cooperation with Turks and Turkish businesspeople, which is why Turkey decided to launch direct flights to Seychelles last October, not only to boost bilateral trade but also boost government-to-government ties.
The Turkish envoy told Anadolu Agency that during her three-day visit to Seychelles that ended Tuesday, she met with various Seychelles government ministers and discussed trade, development, infrastructure, food and agriculture, health, and security issues.
She said that her country and Seychelles had agreed to partner in order to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia and help stabilize the situation in the war-torn country.
