Government has received a K2 billion oxygen plant from the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust (MLW) as part of its Covid-19 response.
Speaking on the sidelines of the handover ceremony for the plant which will assist not only Covid-19 patients but also others in need of oxygen therapy, Deputy Director for MLW Professor Henry Mwandumba said, the plant will live beyond the Covid-19 time.
“We are delighted to assist the Malawi government with this oxygen plant which will assist patients at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital and surrounding hospitals in the southern region,” he said.
“If there is only one treatment that has proven to save lives of patients with Covid-19 then it is oxygen.”
In his remarks, after receiving the donation on behalf of government minister of local government Ben Phiri said, this is a timely donation as the country continues to register new cases every day.
“We appreciate this donation and it could not have come at a better time, this is the first oxygen plant in Malawi and government plans to construct these plants in all the countries central hospitals.”
Phiri mentioned that currently engineers are working on a similar project in at the Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe.
Since Covid-19 hit Malawi, MLW has carried out Covid-19 diagnostic tests and trained 16 laboratory staff, further to this they have taken a positive role in obtaining locally sourced and internationally purchased Personal Protective Equipment (PPE’s).
