First Lady donates Medical equipment and supplies to Dowa district hospital

Firstlady Madame Monica Chakwera on Tuesday donated Medical equipment and supplies to Dowa District Hospital.

The donated materials include face masks, hand sanitiser and Personal Protective Equipments for medical personnel.

She called upon stakeholders to join hands and work togther to eradicate Covid-19 pandemic.

“Covid-19 continues to affect the people of Malawi in different ways, therefore as a nation we should join hands to fight this pandemic until we win.

"Let us all work together with the government to reinforce the preventative measures against further infections," she said.

Madame Chakwera said the government is aware of the challenges faced by the health sector reiterating it's committment to address them all.

“The health sector is facing a number of challenges like, inadequate infrastructure, unreliable water supply, shortage of staff and many others," she said.

She said some of these challenges will be addressed soon while some of them will need long term planning to be adequately addressed.

Dowa District, Director of Health Services, Dr. Peter Makoza said the donation will help in achieving some of the plans in the Covid-19 response plan which the district developed to fight the pandemic effectively.

“This donation will not only alleviate the challenges the health sector is facing but will also improve the quality of health service delivery," he said.

He said with the help of these equipment’s and supplies, health workers will do their job better in fighting against covid-19.

Makoza appealed to communities to follow all preventative measures in the fight against the pandemic which has hit Malawi in which Dowa district has not been speared.

In his remarks Senior Chief Msakambewa asked the Firstlady to extend the help to other remaining health facilities in the district saying they are also facing similar challenges and need urgent help.

“As a district we really appreciate for the timely donation. However, my worry is that the donated equipment and supplies is for a few health facilities in the district," he said.

Dowa District Hospital serves a population of 797 463 and is a referral hospital to 23 health facilities.

The district hospital registered its first covid-19 case in May 2020, and as of 28 May 2020, the hospital has registered a cumulative of 73 cases with two deaths.