VITAL medical equipment is on its way to Africa from Huddersfield.

And the astonishing generosity of health workers in the town means many lives will be saved in Tanzania.

That was the verdict of former Huddersfield consultant John Philip and his wife Christine, as they helped volunteers pack a huge container with the donated medical equipment.

The couple, who are working to help hospitals in Mwanza, Tanzania, as part of a Rotary International Project, were “staggered” by the help that had been given.

The vast array of medical equipment including operating tables, beds, cots and instruments was all donated by health professionals and hospitals across the region.

“We had a conservative estimate when we started the project that we may get equipment worth £¼m.

“Having turned up at St Luke’s Hospital in Crosland Moor at the weekend to pack up the equipment, it was worth much, much more than that.

“The generosity of people has been amazing. And so, too was the effort that people showed at the weekend.

“We had just three hours to get all the equipment loaded into a huge container and between 40 and 50 people turned up to help”.

The container has been taken from Huddersfield to Felixstowe in Suffolk.

From there it will leave by ship for Oman and then transfer to another cargo vessel to make the journey to Dar Es Salaam, arriving in September.

The final leg will see the container back on a lorry to Mwanza.

Dr Philip and his wife fly out in October to supervise the distribution of the equipment to hospitals and health centres – starved of decent, safe medical equipment for years.

They will be joined by 10 volunteers from the Huddersfield area who will then install the equipment and start to train local staff on its use.

Dr Philip, a Rotary Club member from Fixby, said: “We were staggered by the response to our appeal, which we made at the start of the year.

“We had calls from hospitals, from doctors, from nurses and from pharmacists, all offering to help.

“The equipment that has been donated to us is not rubbish, it is simply surplus to requirements locally. But it will make a vast difference to the people in Africa.

“When I was last there it was sad to see the state of the hospitals and the health facilities.

“Now that system is going to be given such a huge boost thanks to the generosity of people in the Huddersfield area and every single piece of equipment will prove to be so vital.”