Power challenges in central and district hospitals could soon be history as government, with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is drawing a master plan to improve power supply in health facilities.
During the national consultations forum on Power for Health Master Plan at Bingu International Convention Centre (Bicc) on Tuesday, Minister of Health Atupele Muluzi said his ministry is seeking to improve service delivery in the health sector to ensure patients access services without interruptions due to power outages.
He said: “As government, we seek to drive efficiencies across the board in the health sector. For the past 18 months, there have been discussions with a number of development partners regarding the power situation to the health sector. On one side the issue is to do with efficiency while on the other side it is to do with saving lives. So we will ensure that we have sustainable power supply.”
According to him, the master plan, that will see hospitals being run with the aid of solar panels, will provide a guide for future developments of power needs for the health sector in the country.
Media reports earlier indicated that patients in some health facilities use candles and that blackouts in some scenarios lead to loss of lives.
In an interview, UN resident representative Claire Medina observed that Malawi is capable of making progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number three which seeks to achieve access to health.
She said: “From the United Nations perspective, we see that Malawi’s achievement of SDG number seven on clean and reliable energy for all is absolutely critical. So, we have supported the Ministry of Health and other national counterparts in conducting its energy assessment in central hospitals to have reliable and correct information on energy needs.”
Malawi Health Equity Network (Mhen) executive director George Jobe said the plan is important because it will improve efficiency and reduce loss of lives in health facilities.
(Source: The Nation Malawi, 30th January 2019)