The need for a tertiary paediatric hospital in South Africa is greater than ever and can no longer be ignored, stated Sibongile Mkhabela, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital Trust. "Africa carries a disproportionately high paediatric disease burden. Unfortunately, this has not been met with an increase in paediatric health care capacity. The continent continues to lag behind the rest of the world when it comes to taking care of our children. The need for the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital and the level of care it will provide is now even greater," said Mkhabela.
She added that while progress is being made in children's healthcare, it was not happening quickly enough. "Thousands of children die unnecessarily every day in Africa. With the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital we have the opportunity to start addressing these issues and to contribute meaningfully to paediatric care in Africa."
Making the announcement at a function in Johannesburg, the MD and CEO of Engen, Datuk Nizam Salleh, said the company was humbled to contribute towards the building of the specialist paediatric facility, which, once completed, will be one of only five dedicated children's hospitals on the continent.
Datuk Salleh added that Madiba's love and care of children is well known. "Ensuring that every single child on the continent has access to effective health care is something Madiba has long dreamed about. Engen shares his sentiment. This has made it easy for us to pledge our support to bring his vision to fruition," Datuk Salleh said.
"Engen is a caring company and we continue to invest in the communities in which we operate. We trust that our contribution will make a real difference to children in need, by making world class health care easily accessible to them," added Datuk Salleh. "We are privileged to play a very small role in this, and we are humbled to think about what the hospital can deliver for our children."
