Lilongwe Technical College has reaffirmed its commitment to equip technicians with skills to repair and maintain cold chain equipment to improve vaccination services in the health sector.
The institution has for years trained technicians from Malawi and other countries in the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) region such as Lesotho, Botswana and Mozambique under the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning course.
Currently, the college has enrolled nine technicians from Mozambique who are undertaking a short course in cold chain equipment repair.
In an interview on Wednesday, Lilongwe Technical College principal Suzgika Mvalo said the training helps technicians to acquire skills to repair non-functional cold chain equipment to ensure vaccines are stored in good environment.
He said: “The initiative seeks to complement the health sector in immunisation activities as we know that vaccines’ potency depends on their storage facilities.
“Since Mozambique is a vast country, this is the second cohort after we trained eight others previously. These are trainers of trainers because we want them to train others when they return to their country.”
Mvalo said before the Mozambican cohort, the college also trained technicians from local district hospitals under the same course.
Mozambique team leader Jaime Macaringue said his team is eager to learn the skills to repair and maintain cold chain equipment in their country.
He said: “The challenges we face in Mozambique on immunisation are similar to those in Malawi. Mostly, immunisation activities are hampered by old cold chain equipment.
“To ensure the effectiveness of vaccines, we need more trained technicians to maintain them up to good working conditions.”
Lilongwe Technical College is a government institution that offers technical and vocational skills training in welding and fabrication, electrical installation, refrigeration and air conditioning and others.
The college is conducting the training with support from Unicef.
