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Russia Helps to Create First Air Ambulance Service in Africa, Russian State Company Says

15:18, 13 November 2023

CC BY-SA 4.0 / Ivtorov / Russian state technological company Rostec

Rasina Musallimova

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Russia is actively strengthening partnerships with Africa in the field of healthcare. For example, Russia's state nuclear energy corporation, Rosatom, will launch joint cooperation projects with Algeria to develop nuclear medicine. Zimbabwe is among the African countries engaged in technical cooperation with Russia in the field of healthcare.

Sputnik

Contracts for the supply of Russian multi-purpose Ansat and Mi-17 helicopters to Zimbabwe contributed to the creation of the first air ambulance service on the African continent, First Deputy General Director of Russia's Rostec State Corporation, Vladimir Artyakov said.

"We have implemented a very interesting and significant project with the Republic of Zimbabwe. We did not just sign contracts for the supply of Ansats and Mi-17s, but helped create its own air ambulance service in the country – the first on the continent," Artyakov said in an interview with a Russian newspaper

According to him, "an integrated approach and comprehensive customer support have become an important feature of the project."

In addition, the Deputy Director General noted that as part of the project, technical specialists and flight personnel were trained and Rostec shared its working experience.

"We have trained technical specialists and flight personnel. Representatives of Rostec's National Air Ambulance Service also shared their work experience – it has the widest competencies and experience. Created in 2019, the service has already saved the lives of 30,000 patients with various injuries and diseases," he explained.

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Artyakov emphasized that the integration of air ambulances into Zimbabwe's healthcare system is being implemented gradually and covers all stages of a patient's transfer to a hospital.

"Today we are ensuring the gradual integration of air ambulance into the Zimbabwe healthcare system – from the training of medical personnel to the introduction of a work protocol regulating behavior from the moment a call is received in the call center to the patient's delivery to the medical center," Artyakov added.

As for other African countries with whom Russia is strengthening its partnership in the field of health care, in late September Rosatom signed a memorandum of understanding with the Algerian Atomic Energy Commission (COMENA) to implement joint cooperation projects in the field of application of non-energy nuclear technologies in healthcare.

In late July, it was reported that a company from the Moscow Innovation Cluster Polymed Prof is expected to send about 100 mobile medical diagnostic laboratories to a number of African states.