UK Emergency Medical Team provides Covid-19 support and capacitates health workers

The British High Commissioner to Malawi, David Beer, has announced that the United Kingdom (UK) Emergency Medical Team (EMT) will deploy to Malawi for eight weeks to support Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 response.

The support will target management of critically ill Covid patients, community perceptions around Covid-19 and support to community engagement on national Covid-19 vaccination efforts.

According to a press statement from the British High Commission, UK EMT is a rapid medical response capability, comprising of world-class experts who deliver front line medical care, advice and support to governments, the WHO and local health workers during disease outbreaks and humanitarian emergencies to save lives and alleviate suffering.

The team outside the Ministry of Health Headquarters in Lilongwe

Since the start of the COVID crisis, the UK EMT, has been supporting global efforts to respond to the pandemic through the deployment of specialist staff to work alongside Ministries of Health, the WHO–EMT Secretariat, WHO country offices, as well as other UN agencies and international NGOs.

EMT members have deployed to Ghana, Cambodia, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Bangladesh, South Africa, Chad, Lebanon and lately in Armenia, Lesotho, Namibia and Botswana and also provided support to the domestic response in the UK with the setup of the Manchester Nightingale field hospital

Beer said Covid-19 is a global problem that requires a global solution and that no one is safe until everyone is safe.

“The UK continues to be Malawi’s close partner in responding to the pandemic, supporting vaccines and the medical response. We are delighted to be able to deploy a UK Emergency Medical Team in order to support the health authorities on the ground,” he said.

UK EMT Team Lead Ngoni Mac Nyambawaro said his team of highly qualified experts look forward to supporting national healthcare teams to attend to critically COVID-19 patients, and to develop their capabilities to ensure the impact of this response lasts well beyond the time we are in Malawi.

In her remarks, the Minister of Health, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, said the Covid-19 pandemic presents a clear challenge to the country’s economy, communities and healthcare system.

She said the on-job support and capacity building of the local health professionals by UK EMT, as well as risk communications and community and health worker engagement, will help Malawi prepare better for future waves.

The UK has been at the forefront of the global response to Covid-19, kick-starting the COVAX facility in 2020, and investing £90 million to support the development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

In addition to supporting the immediate humanitarian response in Malawi with £9.67m, and co-funding the COVAX vaccines that Malawi has received, the UK has also provided 119,040 vaccines bilaterally so far.

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :

Sharing is caring!

Follow us in Twitter
Read previous post:
Mary Chilima denounces Early Child Marriages as MotoMoney donates K1m to Children’s First Trust on Mother’s Day

Early and Child marriages are a big retard to the country's development as they lead to many complications including maternal...

Close