By Tione Andsen
Lilongwe, June 3, Mana: Government has the provision of an extra Gas plant at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) will help to ease pressure the health facility was facing to provide oxygen to patients.
Minister of Health, Khumbize Chiponda made the remarks Thursday at KCH during the commissioning of the mobile Gas Plant donated by the Germany government in Lilongwe.
She said the plant come at the right time when the facility was overwhelming for the past two years when COVID-19 took its tool and there was great demand of oxygen provision to patients.
Chiponda hailed the Germany government for providing the extra gas plant to the facility and rehabilitating the Lepra facility in order to help patients in need of oxygen.
She said government was pleased with the continued support the Ministry was receive from Germany government through GIZ Malawi German Health programme.
“The donation will go long way beyond COVID-19 management. We believe the issue of having difficulties to provide oxygen to patients will now be a thing of the past,” the Minister added.
Chiponda said there still need support in other areas of the health sector.
She appealed to staff at the facility to take care of the equipment for better use.
German Ambassador to Malawi, Ralp Timmermann said COVID-19 affected the country very much and some people could have not lost their lives if such facility was there.
He said the provision of the extra gas plan would help the facilities to minimize some the challenges they were facing in the provision of oxygen to patients.
Timmermann said Germany appreciate the leadership of the country in their response to COVID-19 outbreak.
He said government managed to declare a state of emergency and established President Task Force to oversee the development and implementation of COVID-19 National Preparedness Response Plan.
Deputy Hospital Director for KCH, Mable Chinkhata admitted that the facility faced a lot of challenges particularly in the second and third waves of COVID-19 where provision oxygen to patients was tough. She said the demand of for the provision oxygen was extremely hectic as staffs were transferring gas cylinders from the main hospital to the isolation centre
