By Timothy Peter

Dedza, December 19, Mana: National Bank of Malawi (NBM), Thursday donated assorted items to Dedza district council as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

The assorted items included; one delivery bed, private screens, oxygen concentrator, defibrillator and other items that will help patients in the maternity ward as well as the emergency ward at the district hospital.

Receiving the donation, the Director of Health and Social Services for the district, Isaac Mbingwani, commended NBM for the assistance describing it as a very good development.

Mbingwani said the equipment received will help medical officers at the district hospital to urgently respond to different cases.

“As a district hospital that is close to the M1 road, we receive a lot of casualties from road traffic accidents. So, the items received today will help us respond to that quickly,” he said.

He added that the items will also ease the burden in the maternity ward as the district helps about 600 expectant mothers, on average, to deliver within a month hence a need for several medical supplies.

“We need a lot of supplies such as patient monitors, beds and BP machines so that patients should receive quality health care services.

“We usually have a lot of deliveries per month ranging from 400 to 600 on average and being a border district, we receive a lot of patients from Mozambique and therefore, we need more delivery beds,” he explained.

In her remarks, NBM Service Centre Manager for Lilongwe, Moreen Gwembere, said their main aim was to help the district hospital with the assorted items so that the facility could deal with emergencies in the emergency ward.

“In this festive season, there are several emergencies received in the ward but the facility did not have enough equipment to respond finding it very hard for them to help the affected,” she said.

Gwembere said NBM has already reached out to 9 hospitals including Bwaila, Dowa and Dedza adding they are expected to reach out to three more hospitals.