Germany for improved local health sector

Germany Ambassador Juergen Borsch says his government is committed to supporting Malawi Government in the provision of excellent health care services to citizens.

Speaking in an interview on Sunday after a visit to Ndirande Health Centre in Blantyre, the envoy said his government is monitoring the sector to improve basic health care structures across the country.

Borsch said: “Germany has been active in Malawi’s health sector for over 55 years. Today, we learnt of the urgent need to provide health personnel with equipment and better facilities to deliver professional care.

“We are aligning our priorities with Malawi Government through Ministry of Health and Population, and Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development to improve basic healthcare across the country.”

He further called on Malawians to embrace family planning methods, saying rapid population growth affects health service delivery.

On his part, Blantyre District Council director of health and social services Gift Kawalazira stressed the need to invest in primary healthcare.

“The district has 30 facilities with a catchment area of over 1.4 million people. The rapid population growth has piled pressure on the facilities and resources because they were built long time ago. We need support to improve infrastructure and capacity to match the current figures,” he said.

Deputy Minister of Defence Chipiliro Mpinganjira, who is also Blantyre City Central legislator and was present at the event, said he would lobby for more support from development partners to upgrade the facility to a community hospital.

“The vision is to provide doctors with infrastructure and enough equipment to deliver duties effectively. We will bring the lack of the facility’s back-up water and electricity supplies to development partners,” he said.

Currently, Ndirande Health Centre serves a population of over 200 000 people.