By Mabinty M. Kamara
The University of Sierra Leone (USL) has presented prototypes of locally invented ventilators and an alcohol based hand sanitizer to the government of Sierra Leone. The innovations were presented to the Ministers of Health and Sanitation and Technical and Higher Education as contributions towards the country’s fight against the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The presentation ceremony was done at a special event held at the Fourah Bay College (FBC) campus of the university on Thursday, 18th June, 2020.
Two prototypes of ventilators were made by the university. One of them, named Leone Vent, was made by students in the engineering department of FBC. It’s a joint initiative of the students and their counterparts in the sister constituent College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (CMAHS) and the Medical Equipment Technician at the Connaught Hospital. The project was sponsored by an alumnus of FBC, Ing Amara Sorie Tunkara.
The second prototype, named Devuyama (a Mende word for ‘Bring back life’), was developed by professor Edmond Nuni, Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM), the third constituent college of USL. He had support from the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society, among other partners.
The alcohol based hand sanitizer, named Napsol-SL, was produced by students from COMAHS, who named it after their umbrella body – the National Association of Pharmaceutical Students of Sierra Leone. They were supervised by their lecturers and had support from the government laboratory at the 34 Military Hospital.
Both Devuyama and Lone Vent can be operated manually and can be used on a moving ambulance, according to their manufacturers. All two ventilators were designed to meet the design specification of a standard modern ventilator and are said to be affordable for the ordinary Sierra Leonean.
During the presentation, Malcolm Nuni, the International Chief Executive Officer of Wind Energy Solution, the company under which the Devuyama ventilator was produced, said that five Devuyama ventilators were ready for sale at US$6,000 each.
Professor Mohamed Samai, Deputy Vice Chancellor of COMAHS, said the collaboration displayed by the three constituent colleges and other partners to do the various innovations meant that the USL was set to do greater things. He however noted the challenges the university was going through in terms of infrastructural deficiencies, citing lack of laboratory capacity and other relevant equipment needed to perfect their ongoing projects and to embark on new ones.
In his statement, the Minister of Health and Sanitation, Dr. Alpha T. Wurie, who is himself a prominent alumnus of COMAHS, noted that he was very impressed with what he’d seen. He said what is happening now in the university is a major change in mind set.
“This is not only showing structural improvement, it is a mindset change. The WHO [World Health Organization] has extended a solidarity trial call to the University of Sierra Leone to do a research for a trial vaccine for Covid-19. These are major changes,” he said.
“Talking about the ventilators, if you limit it to Covid-19, then I can tell you that less than one percent of the population needs ventilator. By that I mean 80% could be asymptomatic, that is they are mild; 15% could be severe and 5% could be critical and of that 5%, not all may need ventilators,” he added.
Dr Wurie went on to say that ventilators were also very much needed in the country to equip community health centers to complement the work being done at the only Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the country. This, he said, was very crucial in helping with the maternal health care system.
“And so I assure you that indeed the Government of Sierra Leone will support these initiatives,” he said.
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