By Richard Chirombo & Pemphero Malimba:
On paper, Malawi’s health sector is a well fed cow. To put that in context, one just has to look at the 2024-25 national budget, where the health sector, through the Ministry of Health, was allocated a lion’s share, at K729.47 billion.
On the ground, though, the situation is different.
For evidence, one just has to go through a statement which Medical Council of Malawi (MCM) has issued, in which it indicates that six medical practitioners have been found guilty of different offences they committed while working in different hospitals across the country.
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MCM Registrar Davie Zolowere indicates that they heard 12 disciplinary cases, of which five were from public facilities, six were from private healthcare service facilities while one did not involve any healthcare service facility.
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Of interest is the fact that MCM has also found Kamuzu Central Hospital KCH), which is a public healthcare service facility, guilty for failing to implement what is recommended on the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s surgical safety checklist.
“KCH has been ordered to institutionalise the WHO surgical safety checklist in all its operating theatres within two months,” MCM indicates in the statement.
In short, what this means is that the public hospital failed to ensure that all the necessary equipment, in line with the WHO surgical safety checklist, was available to healthcare workers.
Availability of such tools would have enabled healthcare workers to execute their duties efficiently.
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In is a reminder that public healthcare service facilities do not always have the money, with which to purchase requisite medical equipment, and other resources.
Mission hospitals are no exception.
And that is where citizens and corporate sector players come in.
Of late, a consortium of non-profit organisations—namely Patriots, Rotary and Lions clubs— have been donating medical equipment to healthcare centres across the country.
challenges
According to Patriots Chairperson Kamuzu Chibambo, this is because they want to contribute to improved healthcare service delivery in the country.
“That way, we seek to lessen challenges which healthcare service facilities face in the country,” Chibambo explains.
He says that is why they have reached out to institutions such as Zomba Central Hospital, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, among others.
“Actually, this coming Friday [today], we will be donating items to Bwaila Hospital in Lilongwe. Then, we will go to Nsanje,” Chibambo indicates.
He explains that they have been donating items such as transformers, surgery packs and related supplies, general surgery packs and supple, sterile dressings, tape, transparent dressings, gowns, laboratory gowns, laboratory courts and tunics, scrub suits, education materials [for example, education models on anatomy, nursing drug handbooks], surgical caps and hats, shoe covers, cubicle curtains, gloves, non-sterile goggles, face protection masks, clothes, among others.
Just on Wednesday, the consortium donated medical supplies worth K1.3 billion to Likuni Mission Hospital.
The organisations sourced the medical supplies from the Malawi United States of America (USA) diaspora community and Project Cure USA under the auspices of Malawi Ambassador to the USA, Justice Esme Chombo.
Lilongwe Archdiocese of the Catholic Church has meanwhile expressed excitement with the donation.
Judicial Vicar for Lilongwe Archdiocese, Reverend Father Deusdedit Kanyambo, indicated— on behalf of Archbishop George Desmond Tambala of Lilongwe Archdiocese—that the items would go a long way in easing service delivery challenges.
Kanyambo also said the items would go a long way in improving operations of the facility, which he said faces challenges such as those of inadequate funding and medical equipment.
“It is really a great relief to Likuni Mission Hospital as we know that, as a hospital, we are meeting so many challenges relating to finances and medical equipment.
“So, we feel great and thank God that they reached out to us,” he pointed out.
Kanyambo further said they would ensure that they put the items to good use.
“As an archdiocese, through the administration, we will make sure that all the equipment and other facilities which have been donated to Likuni Hospital are utilised according to the intention of the donor because if we do to the contrary, even God cannot be happy with that,” he said.
On his part, Chibambo indicated that the items were presented to the facility to lessen challenges it faces and ensure that service seekers are accessing quality services.
“Some of our fellow Malawians are dying not because their sickness is not preventable; most of the diseases are preventable but when you go to the hospital, you will find that fellow Malawians are losing their lives prematurely.
“As such, we are simply focusing on the acuteness of the challenges that the country is facing. We realised that if nothing was done in the health sector, then we are going to lose a lot of lives, which is very sad,” Chibambo stressed.
He then urged the facility to take good care of the equipment to ensure that it benefits many Malawians.
“I would like to warn anyone who will be caught stealing these items. May God deal with that person. This equipment is for poor Malawians and it should not grow legs in private hospitals,” Chibambo said.
Likuni Mission Hospital serves a catchment of at least 81,000 people.
The medical equipment and supplies are part of a series of medical supplies that have been sourced and lined up for distribution to various health facilities in the country.
Phase one of the initiative targets 50-foot containers that will each be distributed to central, district and mission health facilities across the country.
On the other hand, phase two targets 50 containers targeted at community hospitals and community clinics across the country.
Each container is worth not more than K1.3 billion.
As Chibambo puts it, the idea is to lessen the resource burden on healthcare service facilities and create a healthier nation.
