Malawi Government cannot cure every social ill by simply throwing money at it. The drug shortage now devastsing patients at Malawi’s government-run hospitlas, similarly, will not die simply by shooting a large one-time tranche of subvention at it from Treasury for drug purchase. An x-ray of the administrative structure of the Ministry of Health and […]
Malawi Government has released K1.1 billion (about $3.06 million) to allow central and district hospitals to pay debts they had with drug suppliers and other related bills. This follows a meeting President Joyce Banda held on Monday with district heath officers at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe. Last week, drug suppliers blacklisted some public hospitals for […]
Foreword: “As many of my colleagues in here may remember, this drug shortage was foreseen during a stakeholders meeting in October last year. But when one raised this, was perceived as an opposition agent and no action could be taken then http://www.zodiakmalawi.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6396:acute-drug-shortage-state-neglegence-to-blame&catid=42:banner-stories&Itemid=102 .” “It’s a shame and we can do better. For us who run […]
President Joyce Banda, most of the health officials and experts meeting at Kamuzu Palace in the capital city, Lilongwe, were shocked to learn that government has spent the past two years inviting bids from companies and individuals to supply medications. For the period, ordinary citizens have been denied medication and more have died resultant from […]
The Central Medical Stores (CMS) Trust has announced that it has started procuring medication to restock government health facilities as President Joyce Banda met health experts on the matter. CMS Trust spokesman Herbert Chandilanga said on Monday that the CMST had started purchasing medication, months after government hospitals and clinics run out of drugs, leading […]
The chronology of our medical infrastructure’s decay has always been there, but like the proverbial man staring at a flying arrow, we have let our eyes be pierced by the grim and sober reality in the form of a desperate plea by medical doctors at Kamuzu Central Hospital. In 2004, when my 18-month old son […]
Is it justifiable for African leaders to prioritise international recognition at the expense of the welfare of their people? No- if you ask most pan-African commentators. Yes- according to some African leaders and the international community that gives them international accolades without investigating closely how those accolades are translating to the improvement of Africa. The […]
Pressure is building on the government of President Joyce Banda as medical doctors on Thursday announced they have joined the public workers strike. In a news statement issued the doctors’ union president Dr Jerome Nkambule, the doctors said they will only maintain skeleton staff to deal with emergency cases in different public hospital across the […]
Recent news reports of drug shortages in public hospitals are unfortunately not news. Far from being an isolated lapse, such deadly shortfalls are a perennial problem. Insufficient services, facilities, medical supplies and human resources also have led to a loss of trust in Malawi’s health system. When I worked in the public hospitals, many patients […]
The Malawi Law Society (MLS) has commented on reports that that public hospitals, especially district and referral centers in the country, have run out of 95 percent of essential drugs, saying the development is not only deplorable, unacceptable and inexcusable, but also outright unconstitutional. In a statement made available to Nyasa Times, MLS said will […]
WBY: “Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.” Wise […]
Introduction Malawi is experiencing soaring inflation which has now hit a 35% mark and the profound effects have spread to the whole health sector thereby creating a huge crisis. JournAIDS in an article dated 8th January, 2013 published on Nyasa Times also lamented the inaction from the Central Medical Stores to deal with stock outs […]
United States of America (USA) based organization, AmeriCares has donated to government medical drugs worth K175 million (bout $500 000) after personal intervention of President Joyce Banda who appealed for help from the Americares. Banda, who visited AmeriCares headquarters to meet with AmeriCares President and CEO Curt Welling and the staff in February when she was vice president, […]
Malawi’s public hospitals are becoming waiting rooms for death with shortages of treatment, the recent being the case of Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe where there is shortage of intravenous fluids (IV fluids), no syringes and no blood for sick children. Doctors at the health facilities who spoke to Nyasa Times said they are […]
People from Thyolo are failing to access hospital screening services in time due to the breaking down of x-ray machines at the district hospital forcing some patients and guardians to use their own transport to access the same services from Mulanje District Hospital. A guardian, Christopher Kanyowa said on Friday it had taken his sister […]
First Merchant Bank (FMB) Mchinji branch on Wednesday treated patients at Mchinji District Hospital pediatric ward to an early Christmas with assorted items worth K200, 000. According to Mchinji FMB Branch Manager, Dan Datchi said they wanted to do something to their customers and share with the community what they have. “We don’t believe in […]
Ministry of Health says it uses strict measures when registering and deregistering patients into the Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART) scheme, which makes it difficult for anyone to be enrolled fraudulently. Public Relation Officer (PRO) in the ministry, Henry Chimbali, disclosed this to Malawi News Agency (Mana) recently in a questionnaire response amid rumours that the […]
Nearly a million Malawians are diagnosed with diabetes a non-communicable disease (NCD) in which there are high levels of sugar in the blood, statistics from Diabetes Association of Malawi have shown. This comes as Malawi joins the rest of the world in dedicating the month of November as a diabetes awareness month. The association’s president Pastor Timothy […]