Anadkat family facelifts QECH children’s unit

The Anadkat family, founders of FMB Capital Holdings, have spent K1 billion in the construction of a new building and refurbishing of two others at the Children’s Accident and Emergency Unit at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre.

The facility, named Anadkat Centre, which was unveiled by the Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda on Friday brings hope for improved health services for children at the facility.

In her speech, Chiponda acknowledged that the Anadkat family have provided the much-needed infrastructure for children and hailed the family “for always coming forward whenever needed”.

“This is a very critical and important department in terms of children’s health. It is a department responsible for receiving all the children whether they have had accidents or they are sick.

“We wanted emergency services for the children to be separated from the adults,” she told reporters.

Speaking on behalf of the family, wife to the founder of FCB Meeta Anadkat said the hospital management approached them seeking financial support to refurbish some sections of the department.

She said when the family visited the facility, they witnessed the need that was there for children to be able to receive quality health services.

Said Anadkat: “Of course, children die, but we have to save the ones that we can save.  Any child saved is going to be a pillar in Malawi.

“Children are our pillar, they thrive and push the community in which they are. So, they are vulnerable. We need to protect them. It is our duty.”

QECH director Dr. Kelvin Mponda said 50 percent of the children that die in hospitals, die within the first 24 hours of admission and one of the reasons is lack of proper care.

“If we want to reduce the deaths of children in a hospital setting, we have to make our emergency department vibrant so that when children come, they are assisted early and given appropriate care.

“That is why in our bid to reduce the rate of children’s deaths in Malawi, we thought of ensuring that our emergency department is vibrant,” he said.

Mponda then appealed to the Ministry of Health to deploy enough staff to the department to meet the new infrastructure’s capacity.

Apart from the children’s department, the Anadkat family have also been involved in other projects at QECH, including the construction of an adult emergency unit.

In the education sector, the family, which say believe in philanthropy, constructed hostels at College of Medicine, refurbished Namiwawa and Chichiri primary schools and is currently providing tuition fees to 500 students. n