Midwives yearn for Covid-19 safety kit

Association of Malawian Midwives (Amami) has asked the government to provide enough protective wear to medical personnel so that they are safe in the wake of Covid-19 which has officially been recorded in Malawi.

Amami president, Anna Phoya, said most medical personnel risk contracting the ravaging virus due to inadequate resources in most health facilities.

Phoya was speaking in Mangochi on Saturday when her association donated soap and hand-washing materials to Mangochi District Hospital.

Amami also engaged in a session with midwives and clinicians in the lakeshore district to share with them possible threats and opportunities that have emerged due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We want the government to provide the required protective materials to our members and other medical personnel. Caregivers need to be safe while discharging their duties. We plan to engage the Secretary for Health and other senior officials to share with them how we want our members to be protected,” Phoya said.

She also urged midwives in the country to avoid using the coronavirus as a scapegoat for not providing quality medical health services to expectant women.

Phoya also challenged midwives to use their close contact with expectant women to enlighten them on best ways of protecting themselves and their families from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“As an association, we have done out part by donating the hand-washing materials in all border districts because we believe they have a daunting task to control the further spread of Covid-19,” she said.

In his remarks, Mangochi District Medical Officer, Chimwemwe Thambo, said Mangochi Health Office needs more hand-washing facilities to be allocated to rural health centres in the district.

He said the district has about 47 health centres most of which lack proper materials to help them fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

Malawi has so far registered four coronavirus cases, one in Blantyre and three in Lilongwe. The virus was first recorded in Wuhan, China, towards the end of last year before it began spreading to the rest of the world.

Yesterday’s updates indicated that over 64,000 people have died from the disease with over 1.2 million infected globally.