Norwegian Ambassador to Malawi Kikkan Haugen has advised government to bring sanity in the health sector and deal with mismanagement of resources if Norway is to continue supporting the country.
He made the remarks on Wednesday during an official opening of the state of-the-art intensive care and high dependency units which have been constructed at Kamuzu Central Hospital with support from Norway.
“We all know there are too many resources that are being abused because of corrupt practices. If we are to continue to be an important partner in Malawi’s health sector, we need to see this country continue fighting against the two culprits [corruption and abuse of resources],” Haugen said.
While acknowledging some of the government’s efforts to curb abuse of resources, Haugen said there are still some perpetrators that need to be dealt with in order to fully clean up the system.
Haugen further emphasised the need for government to ensure that the two facilities have adequate human resources
“The facilities are well equipped with high standards, now it is government’s responsibility to make sure that there are more resources in this case, personnel and maintenance resources,” he said.
Minister of Health, Peter Kumpalume, commended Norway for the donation and said with the units, the hospital will be able to offer services effectively.
On the issue of increasing human resources, Kumpalume said government this year will recruit about 2,000 health personnel to address the shortage of staff in the country.
“We are doing our bit and this year we want to recruit about 2,000 people to cover the gaps that we have for as long as the population keeps on increasing, we will need more of these personnel,” he said.
The two facilities have been constructed at a cost of K1.1 billion. Norway has also provided the hospital with a gas and vacuum plant
Leave a Reply