By Sellah Singini, MANA
The German Ambassador to Malawi, Jurgen Borsch on Friday donated medical equipment and supplies to Dedza District Health Office (DHO) to help the district in the fight COVID-19.
The items included hand sanitizers, N95 face masks for health workers and support staff, gloves, disposable aprons, pulse oximeters, liquid soap dispensers, surface disinfectant, hand washing liquid soap and tapped buckets.
Speaking in an interview after donating the items, Borsch said the donation is one way of helping strengthen the health system in Malawi.
“We have started a first quick response amounting to more than MK2 billion for the COVID-19 interventions in Malawi. We are refurbishing treatment and isolation centres in different hospitals, we are giving out information materials because it is very important to let everybody in the country know what we can do and how we can fight the disease,” he said.
District Commissioner (DC) for Dedza, Emmanuel Bulukutu said the donation will ease some of the challenges the health facilities in the district have been facing as they do not have enough Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs).
In addition to the procurement of COVID-19 related equipment and supplies under the Health Services Joint Fund, together with Norway, the German government provided additional K500 million towards the Malawi-German Health Programme which GIZ it is implementing in the country.
The additional funding is intended to strengthen public awareness, training of health workers on COVID-19 screening, contact tracing, surveillance and infection prevention in Lilongwe, Dedza, Mchinji and Ntcheu.
