At Integrate Health, the health and safety of our staff is a top priority. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, all Integrate Health Community Health Workers were equipped with hand sanitizer and gloves. Upon detection of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Togo, Integrate Health acted quickly to ensure that all Community Health Workers and health center staff had the additional Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) required to do their job.
Although Integrate Health was able to procure an initial order of PPE, purchasing additional supplies has been challenging amidst global stockouts. In response, Integrate Health has turned to a local Togolese start-up, EcoTecLab, to facilitate PPE procurement.
EcoTecLab was created in 2016 with the mission to provide training and an entrepreneurial space for Togolese youth with ambitious tech ideas. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, engineers at EcoTecLab started making medical products, such as face shields and respiratory assistance devices. To date, EcoTecLab has supplied Integrate Health with 150 face shields to protect our Community Health Workers.
The Executive Manager of EcoTecLab, Mr. Ousia Assiongbon FOLLI-BEBE, is motivated by innovation. “Our aim was to put our expertise and material knowledge at the service of this pandemic… As people started making masks, we wanted to innovate and bring something beneficial,” he explained.
Mr. FOLLI-BEBE is hoping that EcoTecLab’s face shields can be of benefit once restaurants, stores, and other companies reopen in Togo.
“We are thinking of approaching many different organizations soon so that they can equip their staff working behind a counter or at any other facility that puts them in contact with other people,” he explained.
Integrate Health is proud to support local organizations like EcoTecLab that are providing essential training and opportunities for Togolese technicians while supplying lifesaving medical equipment to Togo’s Community Health Workers.