By Solister Mogha

Zomba, July 11, Mana: Minister of Health, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda has pledged government’s commitment to continue providing quality health services to Malawians.

Speaking in Zomba on Thursday when she commissioned four facilities at the Zomba Central Hospital, Chiponda said health care is one of the essential services that the government prioritizes in its plans and budgets.

Chiponda said increasing the number of health workers and improving infrastructure in all the health facilities are among the key drivers in achieving the goal.

She described the Infectious Diseases Unit, the CT scanner, Incinerator and the Multi-Drug Tuberculosis (TB) Ward as a giant step towards improving quality delivery of health services.

“We want our facilities to have everything at one place. When patients come for help, they should be able to get the assistance without being referred to another facility within the district,” Chiponda said.

She said: “From now onwards no-one will travel to Blantyre for CT scanning and the Infectious Diseases Unit whose main function is to accommodate emergency diseases will heavily support the district in times of disease out breaks since infectious diseases would be isolated than was the case in the past.”

Chiponda thanked the Germany government and the Global Fund for supporting the country's health sector.

“We are proud of this achievement but many thanks to the Germany government and the Global Fund for supporting us with resources to construct these facilities and also provide all the necessary equipment,” she said.

Germany Ambassador to Malawi, Ute Konig said Germany has keen interest in improving Malawi's health system by improving its infrastructure and equipping health facilities with the necessary equipment.

Konig pledged continued support in all health related areas, adding: “Germany has been a steadfast partner in improving quality and expanding coverage of health care provision for Malawians.

“Our current Germany portfolio to the health sector is as high as EUR 110 million (equivalent of MK205 billion) for both technical and financial cooperation.

“We would like to see Malawi’s health system transformed and we commit to supporting the country improve the quality of services to the people,” he said.  

A resident of Zomba, Herbert Banda said the opening of the four facilities was a major step and dream come true to the people of the old capital city.

“A facility such as Zomba Central Hospital is supposed to be fully fledged and no need for patients to be referred for further treatment elsewhere. Today, we are happy to see that our hospital has been equipped with more advanced machines and have new structures,” said Banda.