Land Marine hands over R1.7 million for new CT scan |03 March 2005

Land Marine chairman Glenny Savy, accompanied by a large delegation from the company including board members, section heads and managing director Hughes Adam, helped present an over-sized cheque to Vice-President Joseph Belmont yesterday in a ceremony at State House, also attended by Minister of Health and Social Services Vincent Meriton and principal secretary Maurice Loustau-Lalanne.

The money will go toward the purchase of a “state-of-the-art” CT scan, said Vice-President Belmont, who called the donation “an example for others to follow” under President Michel’s call for public-private partnerships as outlined in his November budget speech.

Mr Loustau-Lalanne said the new machine would provide patients with a quicker and much more comfortable experience to scan and possibly diagnose an array of ailments.

The existing CT scan, donated by current ministry adviser Dr V. Ramados in 1997, has been primarily used for brain, spinal, chest and abdomen scans, carrying out more than 10,000 examinations in all, says the ministry. Mr Loustau-Lalanne said the new machine would provide the hospital with more flexibility, both in scanning other parts of the human body – like the lungs, the cardiovascular system and the mouth for dental surgery – as well as for the distribution of data.

He noted that with digital imagery “100 times better” than what is produced by the existing machine, the new CT scan will give doctors access to results over the ministry’s local computer network or allow such images to be sent via e-mail for quick input from overseas partners.

The existing machine will remain at the hospital primarily as a backup, said Mr Loustau-Lalanne, but could also be used to complement the ministry’s dated X-ray equipment.

The equipment is expected to arrive in April and the scanner is slated to be fully operational perhaps by June, he added.

While Land Marine is providing for the entire value of the new CT scan in rupees, other sponsors are helping to provide the foreign exchange component. The Seychelles government has allocated US $100,000, while Nouvobanq, Barclays and MCB are each covering $50,000 in foreign exchange. Land Marine will put up the remaining US $67,000 in forex in addition to the local currency.

According to Mr Savy, Land Marine decided to contact the health ministry to see how it could help out with some of the problems in the health service. Health officials identified a new CT scan as one of its top priorities, which Mr Savy said corresponded with what Land Marine was able to offer.

Land Marine has had a history of sponsoring social development projects since its inception, he commented, saying that “a company like ours has a special social responsibility.”

The donation was made on behalf of Land Marine’s board members and its more than 400 employees. Mr Savy also thanked the contributing banks for helping to facilitate the purchase.