Unelco presents cholesterol machine to Health Dep't

Unelco has presented a cholesterol machine to the Department of Health for use by staff to check the cholesterol of patients and people undergoing tests for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

The machine valued at around Vt60,000 along with strips for use with the machine to check for cholesterol was presented by Unelco’s Human Resources Manager, Anatol Imak, to the Director of Public Health, Len Tarivonda.

“The reason behind the donation is to ensure that all of our staff members are healthy at all times, through regular screening for non-communicable diseases,” Imak said. In return, the Department of Health has agreed to carry out a big screening exercise next week at Unelco to check staff members for NCDs. The screening will include tests for cholesterol to be done with the use of the new cholesterol machine.

Director Tarivonda expressed the appreciation of the department of health and the Ministry of Health to Unelco for the donation which he said would greatly assist the work of screening people for NCDs.

Graham Tabi, National NCD Coordinator, says that in the past screening for NCDs did not include testing for cholesterols because of the department could not afford a cholesterol machine.

Those tests only checked people’s weight, height, blood sugar and now with the cholesterol machine it can be used to check the cholesterols of the people of Vanuatu.

“Health is everybody’s business and we are glad that corporate businesses such as Unelco can step in the assist the department with such assistance,” Tabi said.

“Cholesterol tests are normally very expensive and doctors can order the test based on clinical assessments.”

To ensure sustainability, the Department of Health may decide to charge a small fee for use of the cholesterol machine when carrying out corporate screening of staff including government departments, Tabi added.