Malawi receives K9m medical equipment

The Turkish government has donated $20 000 (about K9 million) worth of medical equipment, for delivering maternal health services, to be distributed to various hospitals in the country.

Speaking during the handover of the equipment on Friday, Zambia-based Turkish ambassador Ahmet Arda said the equipment, including weighing machines and beds, is meant to promote safe motherhood in the country.

“All the equipment is for maternal health services to help pregnant women. This support is in line with the Turkish government objective of sharing things and experiences we have with other countries.

“We want to share with Malawi the experiences that we have in every field that we have reached such as tourism, agriculture, health and regional development.

“We also want to help relieve the burden on the national budget. You cannot move quickly when there is a lot of pressure on the national budget. We want to help take off some of the burden,” said Arda.

He said the Turkish Agency for Development and Cooperation coordinated provision of equipment.

Minister of Health Catherine Gotani Hara said the equipment is critical to encouraging pregnant mothers to deliver in hospitals.

“While the President is encouraging women to deliver in the hospitals, there also comes the issue of equipment which nurses and midwives need to deliver maternal services.

“As we are generating interest for pregnant women to deliver in hospitals, our biggest task is to meet their expectations in terms of quality of health services so that more women are motivated to deliver in hospitals,” said Hara.

Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) maternal health and safe motherhood national coordinator Dorothy Ngoma said government expects to get more maternal health support from Turkey.