Well known pop star Madonna on Sunday visited pediatric surgery and Malawi’s first ever intensive care unit, which is under construction at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital.
Madonna arrived in the country the same day together with her two children adopted from Malawi, 10-year-olds David and Mercy, and her son Rocco, 15.
Speaking after touring the construction site which is expected to be completed in 2017, she said the unit will help the country a lot.
“This new facility is the first paediatric surgery and intensive care unit in any Malawi hospital. It will have an enormous impact on saving the lives of children.
“In addition to raising the quality and availability of health care, we are also preparing for the future by training more Malawian medical staff in specialised paediatric care,” said Madonna.
Known for her charitable work, the American singer has committed to continue working with the unit until it received all the staff and equipment it needed.
“It’s going to be my responsibility to make sure that this place has the equipment and is fully operational on a regular basis,’ she explained. ‘So I have a big job ahead of me. Wish me luck,” she added.
Asked if she has any more projects for Malawi, she said: ‘I would like to do one thing really well than many things half-assed, as they say in America.’
The children’s unit will include Malawi’s first paediatric intensive care unit, three operating rooms dedicated to children’s surgery, a day clinic and a 50-bed ward.
It will enable the hospital to double the number of surgeries for children and will provide critical pre-operative and post-operative care.
Madonna’s charity, Raising Malawi, was founded in 2006 to address the poverty and hardship endured by Malawi’s orphans and vulnerable children.
