College of Medicine opens clinic, to offer mental health services
College of Medicine (CoM), a constituent college of the University of Malawi, has opened a private clinic in Blantyre which will, among other things, offer specialised services in mental health.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, Chief of Health Services in the Ministry of Health, Charles Mwansambo, said at least 28 percent of patients who receive medical attention in outpatient departments of public hospitals have mental health problems, a situation that can go out of hand if unchecked.
Mwansambo indicated that only a few of hospitals in the country offer mental health services.
He then commended CoM for opening the clinic.
“Studies done recently show that up to around 28 percent of patients that we see in the outpatient setting in public facilities have some form of mental health problem, in addition to physical problems. So, on the list of services that the clinic will be offering are mental health services. That is what the government needs from private hospitals,” Mwansambo said.
CoM Principal, Mwapatsa Mipando, said the idea to own a private clinic is part of the college’s dream to serve the community.
Though he did not state how much has been invested in the facility, Mipando said the clinic has been built with the college’s own resources.
Mipando added that the clinic would offer CoM students the opportunity to get first-hand experience.
“Social accountability is also at the hub of whatever we, as a college, do. This will also provide a teaching and learning environment for our students to have the best in terms of practice,” Mipando said.
Other services to be offered at the facility include paediatrics, obstetrics, family medicine, surgeries, laboratory tests and referrals.
The house in which the clinic is located, at Mount Pleasant, was given to CoM by the first president of the Republic of Malawi, Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda, in the 1990s.
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