Lilongwe – The U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has handed over medical equipment valued at $472,000 (approximately 802 million kwacha) to the Ministry of Health. The equipment is helping frontline workers at health facilities in Karonga, Nkhotakota, Chitipa, Salima, and Kasungu to provide life-saving care to patients by monitoring women in the antenatal, labor, and delivery periods and caring for women and newborns who have complications during labor and delivery.

According to USAID Acting Mission Director Michael Rossman,

We are committed to investing in Malawi’s primary health care services to help build the healthy population at the center of Malawi 2063. USAID is proud to partner with the Government of Malawi to help equip health care workers with the skills and tools they need to save lives.

As Malawi’s largest bilateral partner, USAID supports the Ministry of Health to expand access to high-quality maternal, newborn, child health, nutrition services, and voluntary family planning to improve family health, reduce poverty, and increase gender equality. USAID’s investments expand the availability of trained health care workers, strengthen data systems that inform health programming, and manage health commodities so that there is an uninterrupted supply in the country’s public health facilities and communities.

USAID’s MOMENTUM Tikweze Umoyo project, implemented by AMREF Health Africa, procured the donated medical equipment. It includes oxygen concentrators and cylinders, examination couches, delivery and patient beds, blood pressure machines, autoclave sterilizing machines, delivery sets, machines for vacuum-assisted delivery,  newborn resuscitation stations, and antishock garments that help stabilize women during difficult deliveries and save lives by reducing blood loss. 

USAID helps the Ministry of Health advance its goals of improving access to high-quality health services, strengthening the health system, and promoting good governance. Last year, USAID’s partnership with the Government of Malawi provided nearly 2.5 million mothers and children with essential health services and helped to resuscitate more than 8,000 newborns.

Learn more about USAID’s progress and partnerships with Malawi in the health sector from our Health Fact Sheet.

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A man
An employee at Nkhotakota District Hospital poses with a machine for vacuum-assisted delivery that was procured by USAID through the MOMENTUM Tikweze Umoyo project.
Photo by Lusayo Banda, AMREF Health Africa
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A group of people pose for a picture around a table covered in boxes and equipment still in packaging.
The District Commissioner for Nkhotakota, Senior Chief Mphonde, Councillor Chunga, the District Health and Environment Committee Chair, and officials from Nkhotakota District Hospital receive equipment donated by USAID through the MOMENTUM Tikweze Umoyo Project.
Photo by Lusayo Banda, AMREF Health Africa
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