By Emmanuel Moyo
A health expert in Malawi, George Jobe, has tipped Karonga District Hospital to replace all old medical equipment saying they are essential in serving lives.
This follows, deaths of two patients who lost their lives while on life supporting machines which malfunctioned due to power cut and generator failure.
In an interview, Jobe described generators as being amongst vital medical equipments in hospitals.
“There is need for replacement of all old and unreliable generators in hospitals because these are part of vital medical equipment in hospitals and can help in avoiding avoidable deaths,” he said.
Jobe has since pointed out the need for Electricity Supply Company of Malawi (ESCOM) to spare District hospitals during load-shading or designate special power grids to District hospitals.
On his part, Director of Health and Social Services for Karonga District Hospital, David Sibale, admitted that their main generator that is used for back up developed a fault.
“When escom power went off, we backed up the power with our main generator which later developed a fault and caused the death of two critical patients who were on life supporting machines,” he said.
