Malawi’s CSO Coalition for Medical Oxygen Access has called for attention to the critical role of pulse oximetry and medical oxygen key to speedy pneumonia detection and treatment.
Co-chaired by the Malawi Health Equity Network (MHEN) and Association of Biomedical Engineering in Malawi, the coalition representative Christabel Komakoma made the remarks in Lilongwe on Wednesday as the country commemorates the World Pneumonia Day.
Komakoma called for decisive action to ensure that all children have access to vaccines, good nutrition, clean air, and reliable access to diagnosis and treatment options, including life-saving medical oxygen and antibiotics.
“Pneumonia remains a leading killer of children under five in Malawi, despite being both preventable and treatable. The burden is highest in rural and hard-to-reach areas where access to medical oxygen, functional equipment, and skilled personnel is limited.
“Without reliable oxygen systems, many preventable deaths occur daily in hospitals and health centres. The consortium commends the Government of Malawi, through the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, as well as implementing partners for significant progress in expanding immunization and improving oxygen infrastructure in many referral and district hospitals.
“However, access to medical oxygen remains inequitable and fragile, with frequent equipment breakdowns, unreliable power supply, and inadequate maintenance budgets threatening continuity of care,” she said
The coalition has called on stakeholders to prioritize investment in medical oxygen systems, including construction, financing, and regular maintenance of oxygen plants at all central and district hospitals and finalize and commission the oxygen plant at Mzuzu Central Hospital to ensure full regional coverage and reduce costly oxygen shortages in the northern region
“We also want the establishment of sustainable financing mechanisms for procurement, operation, and maintenance of oxygen equipment and backup power systems and strengthening national and district-level capacity through training of biomedical engineers and health workers in oxygen management and maintenance, among others,” she said.
Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) Deputy Director responsible for clinical and technical services, Dr. Clara Mwalwanda said there is stable supply of medical oxygen at the facility.
“At the moment, we can’t say we have challenge with oxygen, medical oxygen at the hospital, because we have an oxygen plant, which was built in 2020, and it has been generating medical oxygen since then. The only challenge that we had is when we had COVID-19, as you know, each patient needed eight cylinders of oxygen for one as treatment. But nowadays with this plant, we are assured of oxygen availability,” she said
