SWINDON'S Great Western Hospital had donated more than 30 computers and other surplus medical equipment to a health service in Belarus.
Local charity The Zaslowya Project began transporting the equipment, which also includes several thousands syringes, yesterday to Belarus.
The local health authority in Zaslowya serves an urban and rural population of over 20,000 people, many of whom are in poor health.
The authority currently only owns one computer and has no access to the internet or computerised patient record systems.
The donation of this equipment will make a huge difference to the lives of local doctors.
One of them, local paediatrician Dr Tatsiana Balshakova, will be visiting Swindon when she accompanies a group of Belarus children invited to the area for a recuperative holiday in July.
She said that access to the internet would make a huge difference to her ability to treat her patients and improve communications with colleagues in larger hospitals.
The Zaslowya Project has thanked the Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust for its generosity, along with packing firm Farepak who packaged the equipment for safe transit.
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