26 November 2020
Among Leonardo’s global response to fighting Covid, the company has donated two portable ventilators to Uganda’s Government and Armed Forces for patients admitted to military hospitals in the country. The donation is as an important example of a strengthened partnership with Uganda's Armed Forces and Defence. A brief but heartfelt ceremony saw the delivery to the Chief of Defence Medical Services, Gen. Musinguzi, of the first ventilator, that will be sent to the Bombo Military Hospital, the reference structure of the Ugandan Armed Forces (UPDF). Until recently, it had no ventilation units. The second ventilator was sent to the intensive care unit of the State House Military Hospital, in the presence of the Chief of Special Forces, Gen. James Birung I, and the Chief of Civil-Military Cooperation, Lt. Col. McDans Kamugira, as well as the medical officers of the facility.
The donation was made during a mission by the delegation in Kampala Leonardo SpA, composed of Fabio Leoni, Sales Manager for Africa Aircraft Division, and of Savatore Di Bartolo, Chief Commercial Office - Vice President Sub-Sahara Region, in the presence of the Italian Ambassador to Uganda, Massimiliano Mazzanti and the Deputy Italian Ambassador to Uganda, Lorenza Gambacorta.
The mission, the first one in Africa since the beginning of the pandemic, was an opportunity also to present some Leonardo products employed in the management of natural and fire disasters, such as aircraft and helicopters, and environmental monitoring systems to fight Covid-19.