In 2021, life for Kitty Chinguwo who was born normal became so unbearable after she lost sight.
That was after she had a broken vessel in my left eye.
“The development left me helpless. I mean for someone who was born with eyesight and then losing it just like that, it was so painful. A burden to hard to carry. Everything stopped instantly, I couldn’t go to work,” said said
Chinguwo said although she tried to seek treatment locally, all her efforts were in vain.
“Everywhere I went I was told that they don’t have equipment for surgery. I was advised to seek treatment outside the country,” said Chinguwo
She said after discussions with family members in 2022, they opted for treatment at Manipal Hospitals in India.
Manipal Hospitals is one of India’s foremost multi-speciality healthcare providers catering to both Indian and international patients.
As a pioneer in healthcare, Manipal Hospitals continues to develop an affordable, high-quality healthcare framework by providing special surgeries to people worldwide.
Manipal Hospitals is among the top healthcare providers in India where it is based serving over 4.5 million patients annually with 20 Malawian patients among them per year.
Chinguwo is one of 4500 Malawians who have benefited after undergone a surgery at the Manipal Hospitals in India.
Chinguwo said she went in India in 2022 where she undergone a successful eye surgery after failure by local hospital to unblind her.
“I went through a razor surgery after which my eyesight was restored three months later,” said a visibly excited Chinguwo
Her husband Frank Phiri, who was also the guardian said they were happy after she regained eyesight Chinguwo’s guardian Frank Phiri also testified how his patient was successfully turned back to the normal sight.
“I was very worried with my wife’s situation, when we were going there I was her walking stick but after the surgery she was able to walk by herself. It was the happiest moment of my life seeing her walking on her own again,” said Phiri
Despite excellent treatments Phiri admitted that the major stumbling block to the majority of Malawians to access medical treatment in India is their financial statuses.
He said for example, they spent K11 million to get treatment.
Concurring with Phiri, Kelvin Mmangisa had back problems and was treated at the same hospital said there is need to a working relationship between local hospitals and Manipal Hospitals so that a lot of Malawians should benefit from its services.
Mmangisa is the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Lilongwe City Council. He also served as CEO National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA).
“I think there’s need for a working relationship between Manipal Hospitals and one of the bigger hospitals in Malawi. We need more trainings amongst our nurses and doctors especially in surgery. They can also build a hospital in the country so that those who can’t manage to travel to India for treatment can get it locally,” said Mmangisa
Responding to the plea, Manipal Hospitals Associate Vice President for International Healthcare Services Vikas Tayer said “we can collaborate with hospitals and get doctors here if infrastructure allows us, we would like to do surgeries here in Malawi”.
