6 February 2012
Fears for the effective delivery of medical care in Malawi are growing as the cost of medicines in the country escalates.
Malawi’s precarious finances, rising inflation and a lack of vital foreign currency are making it harder for hospitals and medical centres to access treatments for the sick.
One mission hospital reported four increases in prices over the past six months as inflation climbs, putting it in an increasingly ‘precarious financial position’, it told Tearfund.
Another aspect of Malawi’s economic difficulties is that fuel shortages are causing prices to rise which is also impeding the distribution of medicines.
A hospital pharmacist commented, ‘We have found that our fuel costs have increased dramatically, not only due to an increase of 30 per cent per litre on the price of fuel, but also the increasing number of power cuts - on average we have to run a generator for close to six hours per day to support essential equipment.
Standards of living
‘One of the recent cuts was for 32 hours straight and cost the hospital close to US$1,000 to support essential life support equipment.’
Vincent Moyo, Tearfund’s Country Representative for Malawi, said the pressure on healthcare was reflected by the continuing deterioration in standards of living generally.
‘The cost of living is increasing daily,’ said Vincent. ‘An example of this is the price of bread in Jan 2011 was 120 kwacha, but this January it has doubled to 220. People are being laid off from their jobs and their savings are losing value every day because of the lack of foreign exchange.’
He added that Tearfund partners were also suffering and that some were having to consider job losses.
Some foreign governments, including the UK, have suspended aid to Malawi over concern about the country’s economic management.