Tag Archives: Amref Health Africa

Health, Malawi

Amref Malawi donates MK40 million medical supplies towards cholera

Dorica Mtenje

By Dorica Mtenje

LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-To step up cholera outbreak response Amref Health Africa in Malawi has donated cholera kits and medical supplies worth US$40,000 (MK40 million) to the Ministry of Health .

Country Manager for Amref Malawi, Hester Nyasulu made the official handover of the supplies at Lilongwe District Health Office on Thursday.

She said So far, Amref has donated supplies of over US$400,000 towards cholera response in Malawi since September 2022 with support from various donors.

” The medical supplies we are handing over today is in response to the call that the government of Malawi through the Ministry of Health has made requesting individuals, institutions and donors to provide more resources to ensure that the current cholera outbreak is contained in the country.’‘

She said people may wish to know that as Amref they have already made some donations towards the same cholera fight in September last year but because the situation has escalated that’s why we have identified additional resources to support management of the outbreak.

She said they are thankful to the Bread for the World of Germany through Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) project for providing the funding that has enabled us to purchase these medical supplies which we believe will help to saving lives.’

Hester Nyasulu and Liwewe

Commenting on the donation, Acting Director of Health and Social Services for Lilongwe, Dr. Thokozani Liwewe said the support from Amref will go a long way in containing and managing the disease in the district.

“We are grateful to Amref for this timely support. As a district we have a huge need for such medical supplies which are very essential and critical in managing the outbreak,” said Liwewe.

She said since the country registered the first case of cholera in May last year it hasn’t been easy.

She adds that they have seen exponential rise in the number of cases which means the need for resources is so huge and they believe that the support from Amref will go a long way to save lives

“The donated cholera supplies comprise medical supplies such as Chlorine for household water treatment, gloves, hand sanitizers, cotton wool, 20L buckets, intravenous fluids (ringers lactate), giving sets, Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS), and cannula needles and the supplies have been distributed to Lilongwe, Mangochi, Machinga, Zomba, Blantyre and Chikwawa districts,”said Liwewe.

She said Malawi is facing upsurge in cholera cases in all the 29 districts of the country affected.

Meanwhile the Ministry of Health has made fresh calls for more support towards the response as the country is running low on supplies.

The donation has been made possible with financial support from Bread for the World of Germany.

Health

Webinar: Vaccination in Africa – A Public Health Priority AND SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM MaraviPost

Maravi Post Reporter

The webinar will be a platform to educate and inform journalists on the importance of vaccination and on concepts related to immunisation in sub-Saharan Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya, October 19, 2020/ –– Global NGO Amref Health Africa https://amref.org/), biopharmaceutical company MSD (www.MSD.com) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) https://africacdc.org/) will hold a webinar for journalists to discuss the importance of vaccination, and the media’s central role in creating awareness of the value of immunization as a public health intervention.

What: Africa Vaccines Journalist Webinar 2020

Who: Immunization experts from Africa CDC, independent research, academia, the private sector and the media.

When: Wednesday, 28 October 2020 from 11:00AM to 13:00PM EAT (10:00AM – 12:00PM CAT)

Where: Online – ZOOM. Participating journalists will be invited from sub-Saharan African countries and receive log in details for attendance.

Language: English, with simultaneous French translation

Registration link: https://apo-opa.com/msd-en/

Development, District News, Top News

Communities hail Amref for nutrition interventions

Malawi News Agency (MANA)

 

By Pauline Kaude

Communities in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Malenga in Ntchisi  have hailed Amref Health Africa, for bringing various nutrition related interventions to the area which have gone a long way in improving their health.

Speaking during a cooking demonstration that the organization organized on Thursday, Group Village Headman (GVH), Mteya attributed the reduction in the number of malnourished under five children in the area to the nutrition interventions which Amref is implementing in the area.

“Through Amref, people in this area have now acquired the knowledge and skills on nutrition such that our children no longer get sick quite often,” he said.

The GVH said it was encouraging to note that the communities have been trained on how best they could prepare and eat six food groups in their diets using locally available foods.

According to Mteya, the people would continue practicing what they are learning under the project even when it phases out.

Ntchisi District Council Principal Nutrition and HIV/Aids Officer, Edna Mwangonde commended Amref for the nutrition interventions in the district which has almost a 50 per cent stunting rate among children.

“It is worrisome to note that despite producing a lot of crops, Ntchisi has high stunting levels and this can be attributed to a tendency among most of the communities who sale everything they produce from their gardens,” she said.

Mwangonde observed that prevention of stunting requires a multi sectoral approach and called on the communities to put into practice the knowledge and skills they learn during the cooking demonstrations in their households.

Amref Project Officer for Ntchisi, Virginia Kayoyo said the nutrition interventions are under the Canada- Africa Initiative to Address Maternal, Newborn and Child Mortality (CAIA-MNCM) project which is being implemented in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.

She said the project which started in March 2016 and would end in December, 2019 is being funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC).

Development, Top News

Private sector crucial in achieving Universal Health Coverage

Maravi Post Reporter

By Chikondi Manjawira

 

Amref Health Africa has acknowledged the critical role, private sector plays in Malawi in the delivery of healthcare in the country.

According to Amref, the private sector in Malawi has supported specific public health sector needs such as the purchase of specialised equipment.

This is a sign that the private sector is aware of its corporate social responsibility and it is incumbent upon the government to continuously engage the private sector to fulfill this role.

In a press statement which Amref Health Africa-Malawi released on December 12, 2018,  Amref said that the private sector has a stake in the health insurance sector citing the type of health services covered by the private sector, the social attributes  of people covered by the insurance packages as well as the level of premiums charged as examples that all these elements have serious implications on the attainment of universal health coverage in Malawi.

As the world commemorates the Universal Health Coverage Day on December 12, Amref Health Africa in Malawi echoes the words of its Group Chief executive Officer that “Health is the most fundamental human right on which all other rights can be enjoyed. Universal Health Coverage is its guarantee”.

Amref Health Africa in Malawi therefore would like to appeal to the private sector, especially those in the health insurance industry, to ensure that they try as much as is possible to consider the aspect of “equity in health”; to cover as many people and services as is possible.

This includes family planning services which are usually not covered in most of the health insurance packages. Amref  further implored them to ensure that their insurance packages equitably cover the different spectrums of the Malawi society.

The government is the largest provider of health services in Malawi, covering around 60 percent of the health services but the private sector also directly acts as a provider of healthcare in Malawi.. About 40 percent of health services are provided by private actors such as the Christian Health Association of Malawi (CHAM), commercial providers and some non-profit actors. It is no secret that these private actors are crucial for expanding access to essential health services in rural areas of Malawi.

Benedict Chinsakaso, Health Systems Advocacy for Amref Health Africa in Malawi said that there is a need for the government to meaningfully engage the private sector in the health sector if Malawi is to realise its ambition of attaining universal health coverage by 2030.

Universal health coverage (UHC) means that all people and communities can use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship

Health, Top News

Amref engages Malawi media on health systems project

Maravi Post Reporter

By Chikondi Manjawira

LIWONDE-(MaraviPost)-Policymakers and decision-makers in health can deliver quality standards that are accessible to every citizen.

This can be achieved if the media disseminates messages about strengthening health systems in Malawi through writing evidence-based stories, Amref Health Africa in Malawi has said.

Briefing the media during a two-day workshop in Liwonde on Thursday, the organisation’s Health Systems Advocacy Manager Benedict Chinsakaso underscored the significance of the media in ensuring increased numbers and retention of human resource for health (HRH) in Malawi.

Chinsakaso observed that reporting on sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) issues, both of which are being affected due to rapid population growth which he said is the cause of some of the problems Malawi is facing.

“This three-year project [which commenced in 2017] will see the media reporting issues on HRH and SRHR issues positively and accurately. We believe the media can check the authorities in the implementation of different policies the country comes up with and also find out why other policies are designed and end up being dumped,” Chinsakaso said.

He said Amref Health Africa decided to brief journalists on the Health Systems Advocacy project for them to know what it is Malawi is doing as a country to ensure that the country’s health system is up-to-date and responsive to the needs of its citizen.

He added that the project is focusing on two blocks of the health system which are human resource for health and family planning commodities.

“We needed to involve the media to contribute towards strengthening health system such as improving the number of health personnel as well as improve the quality of health service delivery and make sure that all the family planning methods are available everywhere in the country,” he said.

Chinsakaso was hopeful Amref’s partnership with the media would strengthen the latter’s capacity in reporting on health issues.

In his remarks, Amade Alide, executive director for Patient and Community Welfare Foundation in Malawi, which is a member of Human Resource for Health Coalition, described service delivery in Malawian hospitals as poor.

“It is very worrisome to see Malawians accessing poor quality health services either due to human resource for health migration, very few people being trained as health personnel or the rapid population growth which result in inappropriate doctor/nurse-patient ratio in the country, which is way below the World Health Organisation standards.

“I am hopeful that Amref, with the help of media, would help move things forward and we will definitely make a change because we as a coalition have already witnessed some projects implementation by the Ministry of Health as a result of our different advocacy projects,” Alide said.

SRHR Alliance National Programme Technical Committee member Jimmy Kachale was also hopeful that Amref would help in making a difference in as far as population control is concerned.

Amref Health Africa operates in 35 African with over 130 health programmes. The Health Systems Advocacy project, which is being implemented in five other African countries, started in Malawi in 2017 and it is expected to end in 2020.

With €1.1 million funding from the Dutch government, the project is being implemented in Ntchisi, Mangochi and Chitipa.