By Mada Ziba Mangochi, Mana: Lead Consultant for Social and Behavioral Change (SBC) study, Simon Sikwese on Wednesday said there is need for communities to identify locally generated solutions to problems they experience. Sikwese said this on Wednesday, during a validation workshop of the SBC strategy developed under Titukulane Project. He said in order to effect change in areas such as early marriages, teen pregnancy, gender equality and nutrition, the Titukulane Project will use the social ecological mode which will see the project effecting change in identified communities through community advocacy, social mobilization and strategic communication. In an interview Mangochi District Council Director of Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources, Enford Kanyimbo, said the council will see how best it could add value to the Titukulane Project which also involves health and agricultural sectors. He therefore hailed the Titukulane Project for sharing the findings of the SBC study that was conducted in the first quarter of 2019-2020 financial year. Kanyimbo expressed hope that Titukulane Project and the Mangochi District Council will enhance coordination to ensure that the project is sustainable for the benefit of people in Mangochi. Titukulane project is implemented by a consortium led by CARE and is yet to implement the social and behavioral change strategy in Mangochi and Zomba. Titukulane project is funded by USAID through the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance and partners such as Emmanuel International, Save the Children, WaterAid, NASFAM and Sun Mountain.
2 Malawian companies get MK160.5m EU funding to fight COVID-19
By Kondwani Magombo LILONGWE, Mana: The European Union (EU) has pumped in a total of MK160.5m to two Malawian companies, Ethanol Company (EthCo), and Intelligent Monitoring Systems (iMoSys) to increase their production capacity in medical and pharmaceutical COVID-19 related material in a bid to fight the pandemic. EU Head of Delegation to Malawi, Amb. Rune Skinnebach, disclosed this on Thursday during the stakeholder engagement event under the Support towards Industrialization and Productive Sectors (SIPS) held at the Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) as part of the 5th SADC Industrialization Week and Exhibition (SIW) activities. The two companies, iMoSys and EthCo, have been granted respective sums of 100,000 Euros (MK91.7m) and 75,000 Euros (MK68.8m) for the cause. Skinnebach said the EU and its Member States, acting together as Team Europe, are taking comprehensive action to tackle the destructive impact of COVID-19 in the region believing that acting together now, we can emerge stronger tomorrow. He noted that Africa currently imports 99 percent of its vaccines and that more than 90 percent of all medicines and health technologies, making it a priority for the African continent to strengthen local manufacturing of pharmaceutical products, and thereby improving equitable access to vaccines, medicines and medical technologies. “We are awarding a financial grant to Ethanol Company (EthCo) which will allow it to scale up its production line and increase production of hand sanitizers and surface disinfectants from 2,000 litres to 7,200 litres a day,” explained the EU Head of Delegation to Malawi. Skinnebach noted that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the high demand for alcohol-based sanitizers in Malawi, EthCo extended their core business and built a production line for hand sanitizers and surface disinfectants to meet the local demand for hand sanitizers and reduce the reliance on imports. He further recognized iMoSys for reacting swiftly to the “extreme shortages” of personal protective equipment (PPE) at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and adjusting its operations, venturing into the manufacturing of medical face shields. According to Skinnebach, the EUs Team Europe is supporting iMoSys to expand the company’s production capacity of high quality, affordable face shields for health-care workers and for Small and Medium Enterprises in critical sectors. “The company targets to increase its production from 300 face shields a day to 700 face shields a day [and] it estimates this could create employment for up to 35 additional staff, of which 40 percent should be female,” explained Skinnebach. Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Culture, Michael Usi, who presided over the event on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Eisenhower Mkaka, hailed the EU for the grants, saying as a region, SADC needs to build capacity to address emerging challenges facing it, including COVID-19. Usi described the event as important saying it does not only raise awareness of the SIPS programme objectives and its interventions, but it also encourages participation of private sector and SADC Member states in the implementation of the programme to benefit the region. “Let me acknowledge the financial and technical support that SADC receives from the European Union and German Government. Despite the pandemic, we need to demonstrate our solidarity for resilience even more, to stand strong together and continue to find ways to continue to develop our communities and defeat the COVID-19 pandemic,” said the minister. Usi said as a region, SADC should be focused to improve the performance and growth of selected regional value chains and related services within the agro processing and pharmaceutical sectors to contribute to the SADC Industrialization and regional integration agenda. After the event, the minister toured and appreciated the exhibitions displayed by various companies, including the two companies that have been given grants by the EU.
RBM asks employers to save pension for their employees
By Blessings Kaunda Mzuzu, Mana: Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has urged employers to putting all their employees on pension scheme as required by the law. Speaking Thursday, RBM Chief Examiner, Paul Nyirenda said this during pension awareness week held in Mzuzu. “Remittance of pension contribution has been a challenge for some time. The law says pension contribution must be permitted within 14 days of or after the end of the month. But what we have seen is that some employers have not remitted those contributions and arrears have been accumulating. “When one retires he still needs some reliable source of income. It is only pension which provides that reliable source of income. That is why we would like to encourage people to save for retirement,” Nyirenda said. Nyirenda added that employer and employee contribute 10 and 5 percent respectively. The Chief Examiner cited that some companies decide not to give pension to their employees before pension Act 2010. He said registrar of financial institutions engaged the employers to urge them to meet the contribution but others did not comply. “NBM then came up with the list of noncompliant employers and published them in newspapers. After the publication some complied while others still had challenges to comply. “In June this year the Registrar actually visited a number of noncompliant employers after visiting them we gave them an administrative penalty in line with the law so the penalty basically gave them the direction that noncompliant employers should comply within 21 days. As we talking now some have complied,” he added. According to Nyirenda the Registrar has taken a further step to take these employers to court and they are in the process of initiating the court proceedings which are underway.
Mchinji District Council extends PREP awareness to Workforce
By Gerald Fanuel Mchinji, Mana: Acting Principal Nutrition, HIV and AIDS Officer for Mchinji District Council, Patrick Mulenga, has said the council is sensitising its junior staff workforce on the National Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Initiative to reduce new HIV infection cases in the district. Speaking on Thursday during a sensitisation meeting with junior staff, Mulenga said the Council want every staff to have updated knowledge on new interventions like PrEP initiative in order to help in the dissemination of information for the good health of people in the district. Mulenga said the junior staff are many and well connected with other people because they always run the errands for offices which means they can disseminate the information more quickly. “Junior staff miss out on important information because they are constantly running office errands but due to the office errands they are well connected and this information about PrEP is very vital for their survival and others they run into. Hence, the little information they share to others can help Mchinji to register low cases of new HIV infections,” he said. HIV/AIDS Coordinator for Mchinji Hospital, Godfrey Mwankenja, who is also District AIDS Coordinating Committee Chairperson for Mchinji District Council said that PrEP will be administered before being involved in a risk behaviour. He said PrEP is different from Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) in that it is administered after being involved in a risk behaviour. He added that if not properly understood it can negatively empower people do risky behaviours. “The good thing with PrEP is that there is no remorse, it’s like you are planning not to get HIV infection even if getting in contact with an HIV positive person because PrEP oral drug is administered before being involved with the person you feel you are at risk of getting HIV infection, which is different with PEP which is administered after involved with a person suspected of being HIV positive,” Mwankenja said. One of the participants, Fanny Mazombwe, said the information about PrEP, just like of PEP, would increase the chances of people not to get HIV and would eventually eliminated fear of HIV. “I am very happy that there is a chance for a person to avoid the risk of contracting HIV from someone whom you have no power, skill or knowledge required to protect yourself from. Although there is a risk of people being more careless after extra protection in form of PrEP but due to inconsistencies in the use of condoms PrEP is another alternative,” said Mazombwe. According to Mchinji District Council Nutrition, HIV and AIDS Office, the sensitization exercises are being funded by 2% of Other Recurrent Transaction (ORT) from Mchinji District Council. The exercise ia aimed at amplifying PrEP initiative currently being implemented by the Ministry of Health through Mchinji District Hospital.
Digital Skills Training Program Set to benefit Likoma youths
By Chikumbutso Mfune & Lusungu Kaunda Likoma, Mana: Mzuzu Entrepreneurship-hub has launched digital skills training for all project targeting youths and women on economic development in Likoma district. The iniative is being supported by government through Public Private Partnership Commission (PPPC) with funding from the World Bank. The program manager for Mzuzu E-Hub Austin Moyo said this on Wednesday during project presentation with Likoma District Executive Committee (DEC) saying the project aims to enhance male and female participation on digital economy in the district. “The project is expected to carry various activities such as digital skills transfer where it will be teaching young people specifically to allow them to get an employment through video graphing computer programing and web designing just mention a few. “We are doing this deliberately since traditional jobs are being replaced by digital jobs. Therefore, the project is preparing youths and women to be competitive on the future of jobs in Malawi,” he said. Director of Planning and Development (DPD) Leonard Kathalowamo said Council is delighted with the program saying it will reduce poverty and unemployment among the youths and women. “We are happy with digital skill program since it will make the beneficiaries to be self-reliant as they will be equipped with digital skills and able to make money for their own living and in the course, making them refrain from indulging in unpalatable behaviors,” said Kathalowamo.
70 CDSS in Malawi to receive textbooks through COSOMA project
By Tiyanjane Nandie Mambucha Dowa, MANA: Copyright Society of Malawi (COSOMA) will be distributed for free 70,630 copies of textbooks in 70 Community Day Secondary Schools across the country through a project called School Book Development Project. The project with funding from KOPINOR-Norway was initiated to promote the creativity of authors and publishers in Malawi five years ago and has helped in the production of 70,630 copies of 16 book titles of secondary education in Agriculture, Chichewa, English, Geography and History. Speaking during the launch of the COSOMA School Book Development project products at Mndunje CDSS in Dowa district, the Director of Administration for Ministry of Education, James Manyetera said the project is paramount to his ministry because it has helped to solve the problem of scarcity of secondary school books. “This has a very symbolic importance to our ministry considering that the ministry believes in the delivering of quality education which cannot be possible without materials for both the teacher and the learner. I am delighted that these textbooks will supplement the core textbooks and will be useful tools for teachers and learners as most reliable source of information which is contextualized and up to date,” said Manyetera. In her remarks COSOMA’s Executive Director, Dora Makwinja said the project has registered successes worth noting in achieving COSOMAs mandate of promoting and protecting creativity of right holders. “One way of promoting creativity is by donating books, this encourages people to learn and read which eventually increases number of upcoming writers that joins the industry. The project has encouraged indigenous players in the industry to embrace the educational book publishing using local authors, editors, book illustrators, designers and printers, in a way strengthening the education system in the country,” said Makwinja. Speaking earlier Hans Petter, Deputy CEO of KOPINOR Norway said his organization funded the project with a goal of building capacity and strengthening the publishing industry in Malawi and to demonstrate that it is possible to get high quality and affordable school text books that reflects the locals. The School Book Development Project since its commencement in 2017 has engaged 101 players in the publishing industry on textbook development, editing, designing and printing.
Chilima hosts Malawian university students in Egypt
By Mphatso Nkuonera in Cairo Cairo, Mana: Vice President, Dr Saulos Chilima on Wednesday interacted with Malawian students studying in different disciplines in various Universities in Egypt. The students shared with the Vice President some experiences and issues that were key in their academic journey and required the attention of various stakeholder’s back home. The Students’ delegation who met the Vice President in Egypt’s administrative City New Cairo, told this reporter in separate interviews that they could now see light at the end of the tunnel. The Chairperson of the Student’s committee, Shareef Amadu, told Malawi News Agency (Mana) that the issues include delays or failure to renew passports, and seeking advice on how best to be served by the Embassy as well as general upkeep issues. “We requested for a meet the Vice president, when we were permitted it gave us chance to raise issues that as government must look into. He has agreed that issues of passport renewals shall be handled as an urgent matter,” he said. Secretary of the Students Committee, Samantha Maiden said, “We are very glad and satisfied with the responses we got from the Vice President, he was very caring and promised to intervene on some grey areas that have been registered from our meeting.” Earlier in the day, Chilima was invited by the Egyptian government to tour their new Administrative Capital presently under construction, and the site has the largest hotel, mosque, church and tallest building the whole Africa. The Vice President held meetings with Energy Infinity Investors, together with government officials from Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Trade where the company has reaffirmed its position to invest in Solar and Wind powered energy in Malawi with a total capacity of 1,000 Megawatts). On Wednesday, the Vice President described Malawi’s participation to the 21st Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) Summit as successful because it has opened doors for investment, which would help in job creation and reduction of unemployment levels once the projects commence. “COMESA bloc will unlock some investment opportunities for our country and expand our market where we shall be looking at over 500 million populations within the member states as our market for any products we may have,” Chilima said. He added that, “It’s high time we embraced value addition on our products and start exporting them in large quantities that would lead to more foreign exchange dropping into our country than the current situation with high importation than exportation. “I was both impressed and motivated to see what our friends are doing. To imagine that they are creating a new city from the scratch is something that we must all embrace and believe that we too can. With a unity of purpose, dedication and the ability to always think about the next generation. We too can do great things as a country.” On solar energy production, the Vice President said government was committed to provide the necessary advice and support so that investors have a conducive operating environment. “We assured the investors of full government support to ensure that all necessary steps are followed in line with Malawi’s legal framework so that such an important investment becomes a reality. “There is indeed great need of energy in Malawi in line with the country’s MW2063 development agenda and its subsidiary implementation plan MIP-1 that has industrialization as one of the main pillars,” he said.
National Assembly to partner with World Vision Malawi
By Tione Andsen Lilongwe, Mana: National Assembly has spelt the need to partner with World Vision Malawi (WVM) in order to foster development needs in various constituencies in the country. Speaker of the National Assembly, Catherine Gotani Hara made the marks Wednesday during Engagement meeting with Members of Parliament on WVM 2021-2025 Strategy at Sunbird Lilongwe Hotel. She observed that WVM has been in operational in the country since 1982 but has had no working agreement with the National Assembly. Hara pointed out that Non- Government Organizations (NGOs) such WVM should strive to establish working with relationships with the National Assembly. “NGOs should be keen to look for opportunities in order to lobby with Members of Parliament (MPs) to change some of the laws they deem not conducive to their operations. They can lobby through private members motions in order to advance some amendments of the laws,” she added. Hara appealed to NGOs in the country to consult MPs when implementing development projects in an area in order to instil issues of ownership. The Speaker hailed WVM for engaging MPs to appreciate the newly formulated WVM 2021-2025 strategy which need the support of all stakeholders. She said the gesture would accord MPs to have a better understating of the Strategy and be part of the implementation process. “We have seen that the Strategy is been implemented in the sectors of education, food security, Early Childhood Development (ECD), health, education, water and ending Gender Based Violence (GBV) and child marriages,” Hara explained. Minister of Gender, Social Welfare and Community Development, Patricia Kaliati said it was pleasing to note that the new WVM Strategy has been aligned with Malawi 2063. She said Strategy calls for the involvement of all stakeholders so that no one should not be left behind. Kaliati said District Council should be vigilant in making sure that all NGOs working in their councils should be implementing their development projects according to their District Development Plans (DDPs). She said in order to achieve this MPs need to play their rightful role in the monitoring and implementation processes. WVM National Director, Francis Dube said the WVM Strategy offers a positive promise to the children of Malawi and government. He said it calls for the transparency and accountability in the implementation process of the Strategy. “It will provide an opportunity for checks and balance in its implementation and calls collaboration, linkages and advocacy for the improvement of the livelihoods of children and communities,” Dube added.
Digital Health improving neonatal care
By Andrew Magombo Lilongwe, Mana: As the country keeps aspiring to go digital in delivery of social services; it has emerged that the newly introduced software for neonatal, NeoTree application, is already making positive strides in the health system. This was revealed on Thursday at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe by Director of Quality Management in the Ministry of Health, Dr Joshua Matias, during an exhibition of art by women who were sharing their communal experiences before and after the birth of their babies. Dr Matias said the NeoTree app which was deployed at Ethel Mutharika Nursery Unit, Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in April 2019, has replaced the traditional paper admissions and discharge forms in a bid to improve health care delivery. He added that with universal health coverage being key priority among Sustainable Development Goals, the ministry has embarked on improving quality of health services by going digital. He said: “In universal health coverage, we need to make sure that services being provided are adequately and according to standards. This is where we talk of quality care, adhering to required standards and making sure clients/patients are happy with the services.” “One way of ensuring quality standards is through real-time data collection. With this program of NeoTree, treatment is faster and accurate, the information is not lost and it improves interactions between mothers and medical personnel.” Dr Matias said the program is running solely at KCH due to resource challenges but electronic recording and provision of care for other diseases like HIV, Hypertension, Diabetes and TB is also underway in different public hospitals. In her remarks, Principal Investigator of NeoTree program, Dr. Msandeni Chiume Kayuni, said the application has proved to be a reliable decision maker since its inception. She further said that the program has greatly reduced neonatal deaths when it was found that many babies succumb to hypothermia during transition from the labour theatre to the wards due to lack of warmth. “When we found an increase in cases of hypothermia, we found that referred babies from communities were not at risk as compared to those who are born in the hospitals.” “Through analysis of the collected data, the app helped us in coming up with relevant health prescriptions critical for both the mother and the newborn as such number of cases and fatalities have greatly decreased.” However, one beneficiary of the project, Ellen Howa, said the ministry of Health should embark on awareness campaigns because many women are not aware of the technology hence giving them a wrong perception that the medical attendants waste time on their smartphones. Funded by Wellcome Trust, the NeoTree Project is a University College London Project being run in partnership with Kamuzu Central Hospital and ArtGlo.
Stakeholders urged to eradicate maternity myths
By Andrew Magombo Lilongwe, Mana: Key stakeholders in the health care of neonates (newborns) have been urged to step up efforts in dealing with myths on perception of pregnancy, childbirth and other policy issues affecting health services. The plea was made on Thursday in Lilongwe by some neonatal mothers who staged an art exhibition at Kamuzu Central Hospital as one way of sharing their roles and experiences before and after birth of their babies. Among other things, the women illustrated and explained their personal stories when accessing antenatal, labour, delivery and neonatal services Speaking on their behalf, Ellen Howa from Gulliver in Area 49, said much as hospitals provide maternity and neonatal counseling services once in a while, women spend more time in the communities as such they fall prey to many of the promulgated traditions. According to Howa, some of the taboos including pregnant mothers being restricted to consume eggs, hot tea and chilli as that allegedly brings blindness, hair loss, and burning of the baby’s skin respectively. She said: “The fact that we visit the hospital once in a while and spend the rest of the days in our communities, makes it difficult for us not to follow our traditions which is a big risk nutrition wise.” “I would like to ask authorities to do more on this and remove the veil of ignorance because we are misled with some traditions which are rooted in our societies hence there is a strong need for awareness campaigns.” In her response, Principal Investigator of Neotree who is also Head of Deparment in Pediatrics at KCH, Dr Msandeni Chiume Kayuni said it is hard to engage with communities when there is no shared understanding hence it was important to give the women a chance to explain ordeals on the ground through art. “We came up with the program of community engagement in order to discuss with the mothers because it is hard to implement health interventions to people you barely share common knowledge and experiences with.” Kayuni pledged that all feedback from the exbhition will be used to improve the program which will now focus on taking it to the communities across Malawi. Prior to the exbhition, the mothers received training by ArtGlo on how they can skilfully use art methods such as photography, drawing and videography to tell health care workers and decision makers their experiences when using health services. Programs Manager for ArtGlod, Lekodi Magombo, said art is one way through which neonatal services can improve in the health sector. “Prior to the event, we trained the mothers on how they can skillfully use their own art in photography, drawing and videography to share their experiences when using health services to health workers and decision makers.”