Ministry of Heath Wednesday signed a bilateral agreement with the Chinese Ministry of National Health and Family Planning in Lilongwe.
The agreement will enable Chinese heath specialists work in two of the country’s referral hospitals; Kamuzu and Mzuzu Central hospitals whilst training Malawi’s medical personnel in the process.
Signing the agreement for Malawi, Minister of Heath Dr. Jean Kalilani said the ministry has benefited from the clinical specialists from China who have been supporting their Malawian counterparts.
She said through the program, the Government of Malawi has been able to fill some of the critical vacant positions in the hospitals on a short term basis despite the challenges of learning local languages to facilitate better communication with patients especially those from the rural areas.
“The demand for quality care and skilled labour is very much needed on the ground. This is evidenced by looking at the standard of specialised care we offer to our patients across all levels of health care delivery especially at tertiary level.
“We have a dedicated health workforce that is always ready to learn new skills and enhancing this agreement to build skills in our health workers is one way of sustaining our health care delivery system,” said Kalilani.
In his statement, Chinese Deputy Minister of National Health and Family Planning Li Xi said China is flexible to discuss further ways of assisting the Malawi health sector and the people of Malawi.
Currently, over 600 medical operations have been carried by the specialist Chinese medical personnel at Kamuzu and Mzuzu Central hospitals.