Many healthcare providers needed—Medical Council

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edical Council of Malawi registrar Dr Dave Zolowere says it is important for the country to have many healthcare providers where people can get different services.

He said this yesterday on the sidelines of the opening of a private healthcare service provider Royal Medical Centre in Blantyre.

Zolowere said with the population of the country hovering around 18 million, there is need to have adequate healthcare facilities. 

He said: “From studies conducted locally, private health facilities contribute about 30-40 percent of healthcare related services.

“It is good to support government in offering health services to people. Private facilities like these provide alternatives services.”

Zolowere said Malawi has over 1 000 private facilities registered under the Medical Council of Malawi, but the opportunity and market in the sector is still there since more Malawians are seeking quality healthcare services.

“That is a good number for the accessibility of health services but we also know more [individuals] are in the process of establishing more facilities,” he said. 

The Royal Medical Centre has a bed capacity of 22 and will offer a wide range of services, including radiology, X-ray, physiotherapy, surgical, laboratory, under-five outreach clinics, scanning, maternity and endoscopy.

Royal Medical Centre medical director Lughano Kalongolera said their biggest motivation to come up with the facility is the demand from people for quality medical services.

“We need to come together to deliver the best healthcare to our citizens. We need to prioritise our lives by making a series of investments to safeguard our health,” he said. 

Kalongolera said the opening of the centre comes with comprehensive health services only available in few referral health facilities.

He said: “The services are unique but also affordable to the average Malawian.

“Our motto is making sure that we are offering services that are affordable. We are striving at charging our customers the minimum fee.”

Blantyre district medical officer Dr Zaziwe Gunda said Malawians who have the capacity need to come together and help in creating solutions for the problems facing the country.

He said: “In Blantyre, we have a population of roughly over 1.5 million and over 75 percent of this population lives in urban areas.

“It is very important that we have enough of these facilities to serve the population.”