Scotland invests K3 bn in Kuhes
Kamuzu University of Health Sciences ( Kuhes ) Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark Mallewa says the first locally-trained cohort of dental surgeons will graduate in 2024 courtesy of funding from the Scottish Government.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Malawi-Scotland Partnership (Masp) annual general meeting and symposium in Lilongwe on Friday, he said Scotland initially availed £1.2 million (about K1.8 billion) funding for the programme and that
there is currently a proposal for £500 000 (about K750 million) annual support for the next five years.
Mallewa said the total funding from Scotland might come to over £2-3 million (about K3 billion-K4 billion) funding for the next two years which will support the dentistry school, Kuhes’ laboratory project and the governance structure.
He said Kuhes has been enrolling between 20 and 25 dental students in its programmes in the past four years.
Said Mallewa: “Kuhes started training medical doctors in 1991. But we had no dental surgeons until four years ago when we set up the dental school.
“So, we had the first cohort of dentistry students with funding from the Scottish Government and the first group of dental surgeons are in the fourth year now. They should be qualified next year.”
The event attracted various initiatives and institutions that are funded by the Scottish Government.
On her part, Masp board chairperson Dr Ann Phoya commended the partners for using the funds
appropriately, while also urging them to prudently use any future support.
She said: “It is important that the members be prudent with money so that people can achieve and develop in a way that is articulated in the corporation agreement. I also commend them for using the money properly.
“For example, Water Aid has provided Water, Sanitation and Hygiene [Wash] services in 35 health facilities with funding from the Scottish Government. And Kuhes has used the funds it received to train dentists who used to be trained in other countries before this course was introduced. I commend them for using the money properly.”
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nancy Tembo, who was the guest of honour, expressed hope that the enduring partnership between Malawi and Scotland would continue to grow. Kuhes was previously College of Medicine under the University of Malawi (Unima) before it was delinked in 2020 to form three public universities. Kuhes merged CoM and Kamuzu College of Nursing while The Polytechnic became Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences and Chancellor College retained the Unima name.
