A field report: Visit by our technician to the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Lambaréné, Gabon

Our technician, Markus Häuselmann, travels to Gabon every year to maintain the diagnostic equipment at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital, which is supported by Axonlab. We are happy to share his impressive report of the visit in spring 2022 here:

"It was a difficult start, starting with getting visas. I have always done it myself all these years. If I don't hear anything about two weeks after submitting the application, I involve my local contact. He then calls the authorities and asks what the problem is. This time, however, no one from the migration authority answers the calls. Only after two enquiries by e-mail is there finally a response.

Allegedly, my visa has been cancelled. So I have to apply for a new visa with a different motive. No longer as a tourist, but as a "Mission Albert Schweitzer". The visa of my technician colleague with Axonlab who wants to accompany me this time, has not been cancelled. It has the status “in process”, which means that it is not possible to make any adjustments. I then put in all sorts of contacts: From the secretariat to the director and the management at CERMEL (Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné). Unfortunately without success. Since the migration office has adapted its processes and my colleague has an Italian passport, his visa application must also go through another office. The day before the planned departure, my colleague's visa has still not been issued. With a heavy heart, my colleague has to cancel the flight and the trip and I set off for Africa alone.

After arriving in Gabon, I wait in vain for my luggage. Fortunately, however, it is delivered just one day later. But even worse is that I cannot withdraw money from any ATM, as there must have been a change in the system. I can't even get money at the bank counter with my credit card. I have some Euros with me, but not enough for the whole trip. The best solution is finally a money transfer via Money Gram with payout at a counter in Lambaréné. Now the mission can start.

In the Albert Schweitzer Hospital, all three Micros 60 are defective, but I can at least bring two back to life. The third unit needs a new motherboard, but we'll fix that next time. The two Yumizen at CERMEL are in surprisingly good condition. The one unit was no longer running, but they managed quite well. So well, in fact, that they ordered two more units. They decided to go for local representation. There is a company in Libreville that sells ABX products. The units are to be delivered next year.

I am happy to give you an insight into the locations and the various parties that Axonlab supports locally:

Firstly, there is the official Albert Schweitzer Hospital with three Micros in the lab. The CERMEL, funded by the University of Tübingen for malaria research, has built an independent new building outside the hospital campus, where two Yumizen H500, two Pentra 60 and two SPOTCHEM EL SE-1520 are in use.

Then there is the Fougamou outpost, which is about 90 kilometres from Lambaréné. The laboratory is run by Dr Pierre Blaise and rented out to CERMEL with all its staff on a project-by-project basis. But when there is no project, this outpost suffers the most financially. A large part of the countryside is very poor and people often cannot afford medical treatment. But Dr Blaise has a big heart and often treats people for free or for very little money. All the people here know him and when they see him on the street, they sometimes announce during a short chat that there is still a problem that needs to be looked at...

I can repair Dr Blaise's equipment very well. In addition to the diagnostic equipment, we will be delivering office desks to the field office in the near future, for which we no longer have any use at Axonlab in Switzerland. This delivery is very welcome in Gabon and will be gratefully received.  Perhaps when the office tables are delivered, a discarded clinical chemistry device can also be supplied.

Back at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Lambaréné, I am always surprised by more equipment popping up somewhere. "Can't you also..." > "where did you get the equipment?" > "don't know exactly either..." We'll find out from the serial number.... A SPOTCHEM EL SE-1520, SPOTCHEM SP-4430 and a Micros CRP 200 emerge from a bus used as a mobile laboratory. In the hospital, another Micros 60 suddenly appears. Now it's a matter of prioritizing and solving the urgent first. What can wait, I put down in writing and it goes on the next assignment.”