EU hands over hospital wards

The European Union Micro-projects programme has donated two hospital wards to Chonde Health Centre in Mulanje district.
Mulanje, a district in Southern Malawi, is one of the country’s highly populated areas. However, access to medical facilities remains one of the biggest challenges as infrastructural inadequacies and a lope-sized doctor-to-patient ratio conspire to make life too expensive for community members, most of whom live below US$1 a day.
Isaac Munro, National Coordinator for EU Micro-projects Programme, asked community members to take good care of the infrastructure.
He said vandalism of donated property discouraged other well-wishers, a development that meant increased deaths from preventable diseases like malaria and tuberculosis.
The facilities are worth K23 million.
We are happy to contribute towards Malawi’s health system. Improving access to health will play a great role in helping developing countries meet the Millennium Development Goals,” said Munro.
Health is one of the priority areas in the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy, the current development blue print for Malawi.
The EU Micro-projects Programme started working in Malawi in 1995, and has gone through four phases highlighting various areas of development priorities.
The Fifth phase starts next year.
Member of Parliament for the area, Education Minister George Chaponda, hailed the EU for contributing towards the country’s social-economic development.
“The good thing about EU Micro-projects Programme is that it does not force initiatives on people; it involves them in all processes, from project design to implementation,” said Chaponda.