Malawi to have air ambulance, constructing state-of-art military hospital to commence

Malawi will  this year start its plans to construct a state-of-the-art- military hospital at the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) headquarters, Kamuzu Barracks  in Lilongwe, according to President Peter Mutharika.

Construction of a hospital at the Kamuzu Barracks was one of the recommendations by the Commission of inquiry into circumstances of the death of late President Bingu wa Mutharika in April of 2012.

Among others, the Justice Elton Singini inquiry observed that, referring a whole Head of state to a public hospital- as was the case with late Bingu wa Mutharika- compromised the president’s security and privacy.

Therefore, the Commission recommended that: “Government needs to construct or establish a presidential medical facility at the headquarters of the Malawi Defence Force in Lilongwe which is the seat of Government where the President regularly resides.

“Such a facility needs to be properly equipped with top of the range medical equipment dedicated to the treatment of the President incase of illness, aswell as incase of death, as is the practice in most other countries. Location of such facility within the military compound will also serve to safe guard the security and privacy of the President, unlike having the President admitted or treated at a public hospital.”

In his New Year’s message, Mutharika  outlining a number of projects in the health sector to improve service delivery said construction of  a modern military hospital equipped with an air ambulance will soon commence.

He also spoke of  the construction of a Cancer Treatment Centre in Lilongwe located at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) will cut down the cost of sending patients abroad by at least 50 percent.

“For the first time, we are building a Cancer Centre and we are about to begin a military hospital. For the first time, Malawi will have an aerial ambulance,” said Mutharika in his message.

Aerial ambulance will save lives of people from some of the road accidents  and disaster.

The cancer centre is being constructed with a loan from Opec Fund for International Development (Ofid) to the tune of $13 million (about K10 billion). The Malawi Government will also make financial contribution as per Ofid’s loan conditions.

Ofid’s senior operations officer in the Department of Public Sector Operations, Khaled Al-Zayer, expressed delight at working with Malawi Government in development projects since 1977 when bilateral relationships were established.

Since 1977, Ofid has financed 18 projects in the sectors of agriculture, education and health.