Since the end of March, the association SOS Oncológico, based in Lagoa, has distributed 808 masks to cancer patients residing throughout the country and even abroad.
Maria João Santos, president of the association, told the Sul Informação that these are masks «produced by companies certified by CITEVE», the Technological Center for the Textile and Clothing Industries, which has guaranteed the conformity of the masks produced with the standards.
"Oncology patients are one of the main risk groups" of Covid-19, recalls the responsible, so the association has been concerned, since the beginning of the pandemic, to ensure the greatest possible safety to these people.
The masks are being sent to cancer patients, both in Mainland Portugal and in the Autonomous Regions, and even to people who have emigrated abroad.
Visors will also begin to be made available, sent by the Nabeiro Group, intended mainly for «patients with lung cancer and caregivers of bedridden patients».
There is also an entity that made itself available to deliver visors to the day hospital for cancer patients at the Hospital de Portimão.
In order to be able to distribute this equipment, SOS Oncológico counts on «the support of companies from all over the country, but especially from the North». Help has already arrived, for example, from the Nabeiro Group, from the company Lameirinho Indústria Téxtil, from Guimarães, from Safemask One – Portugal, from Interfire – Security & First Aid Service, and from the Poeta António Aleixo Schools Group, from Portimão. «I'm sorry to say, but we ask for support from companies here in the Algarve, always without result».
Another important support has been provided by the Union of Parishes of Lagoa and Carvoeiro, which covers the cost of sending masks by mail. “These are individual masks, in sterile packaging, which we send by mail. The Board pays the shipping expenses, which is also a great help for our task», explained Maria João Santos.
The association had already asked for support from CTT, which granted a discount for sending the material, but that responsible considers that this was not enough. Therefore, the support of the municipality is essential.
The masks being distributed are washable and can therefore be reused. “When we send protections to patients identified by the association, they also follow instructions for use and the warning that they are not medical devices, as well as other recommendations in accordance with the norms of the General Directorate of Health.
To request these masks, just get in touch with SOS Oncológico, through a message at their Facebook page, which can be accessed by clicking here.
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