By Arkangel Tembo, New York, USA

New York, September 23, Mana: President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera has hailed the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for taking a leading role in facilitating the creation of free lead poisoning among children globally for a sustainable future generation.

He made the remarks Monday during a partnership for a lead-free future meeting with the USAID delegation in New York, USA.

President Chakwera stated that since assuming office he discovered high levels of lead in paint being sold on the Malawian market, resulting in the exposure of over 3 million Malawian children to lead poisoning.

He said that while millions of dollars are being poured into education, the outcomes of that education are being compromised by the impairment of children’s cognitive development caused by lead poisoning

” Not to say anything of the cost of treating lead-related illnesses to the tune of close to 1 billion dollars every year, which is over 5 per cent of GDP” said President Chakwera

He indicated that in the first year of his office, the government committed resources of the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) to collaborate with the Lead Exposure Elimination Project in providing stronger enforcement of lead paint regulations, including better testing facilities to detect lead in products.

“This measure alone resulted in the reduction of the market share of brands with lead paint by 50% within two years and secured the commitment of two-thirds of all manufacturers to go lead-free” said President Chakwera

He revealed that Malawi is committed to joining the Partnership for a Lead-Free Future to have access to the necessary international support to achieve such important benchmarks as identifying all key sources of lead exposure in Malawi