For three weeks now, government is shouldering the cost of dialysis services for 64 patients seeking the service outside Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe following the facility’s closure some weeks ago.
Ministry of Health and Sanitation spokesperson Adrian Chikumbe said the cost of single service hovers around K300 000 per session and is conducted twice a week. This translates to K180 million for three weeks.
He said the closure of the dialysis unit at the facility follows contractual issues that have arisen between the supplier of the life supporting machines and Ministry of Health.
Said Chikumbe: “Among others, the supplier has failed to service the hospital’s 12 machines, which were reduced to nine for some time, risking those that were accessing such a service on those machines.”
Asked what the ministry will do to avoid a reccurrence of the challenge, he said the matter has been referred to the Attorney General’s office for further review to avoid recurrence of such issues in future.
The shutdown has left patients, who depend on KCH for treatment, to seek the service in private facilities within Lilongwe and Blantyre.
KCH director Amos Msekandiana was not immediately available to comment on the matter.
However, Minister of Health and Sanitation Madalitso Baloyi confirmed that the region’s major referral hospital is unable to help patients with dialysis services because of the stand-off with an international supplier of the machines that were used at the dialysis unit.
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In an interview, she said the ministry visited the unit and discovered that it was not in good condition.
Said the minister: “A number of issues were also identified that led to its closure. A decision was made to close the unit in the interest of patients, and government is footing the cost of those affected by the closure of the unit.
“We reviewed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) that was signed with the contractor to see how best they can assist us and also looking at the welfare of the patients that were assisted by the dialysis unit. So we recommended that it should be temporarily closed and we have referred to private hospitals where they are being assisted while we fix this problem.”
She added that the patients have been referred to private facilities for convenience and to ease pressure on the country’s other referral hospital, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre.
Asked how soon the situation will resolve, Baloyi said the ministry is handling the issue with urgency it deserves.
The minister said: “It’s going to be sorted out soon. My ministry is on top of things. We want to make sure that we are providing best services. We don’t want to put Malawian lives in danger that is why we came up with the decision to temporarily close until the supplier works out on our areas of concern.”
Meanwhile, the Kidney Foundation Association board chairperson Samuel Kumwanje has said the country’s public hospitals have often fallen short of offering such a critical service.
In an interview yesterday, he said the patients are being reffered to Christian Homecare Services and Partners in Hope in Lilongwe, as well as Mwaiwathu Hospital in Blantyre, a situation he described as inconveniencing especially for those having to travel to Blantyre to access the service.
Said Kumwanje: “The main problem that our members were facing was the water purification part which was affected at KCH. The patients were not receiving the required dialysis. The decision to close was in our interest.
“They informed us that they may require two weeks or more to fix the problem. Government is shouldering the cost of dialysis services in the private hospitals.”
Parliamentary Committee on Health chairperson Anthony Masamba said the committee will investigate the state of dialysis unit at KCH.
Meanwhile, health rights activist Maziko Matemba said the situation should be solved quickly considering that the capacity of private hospitals cannot be compared to public hospitals.
A dialysis is an important machine for people suffering from kidney failure as it can lead to saving and prolonging their life.
