By Alick Nzangaya
The Government of Japan says it is very much committed to helping the Malawi government in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is according to Japanese Ambassador to Malawi, His Excellency Satoshi Iwakiri who was speaking in Lilongwe on Thursday as his government through UNICEF was handing over COVID-19 cold chain equipments.
Iwakiri said the equipments which are worth US$725,000, which is approximately K595 million, will help the Malawi government to safely store COVID-19 vaccines which he said requires special storage equipments.
The ambassador further told reporters who witnessed the event that the donation will also assist the Ministry of Health to safely transport COVID-19 vaccines to people in the remotest areas of the country.
Iwakiri who said the gesture will help in strengthening the mutual relationship between the two governments, added that the equipments will see the Malawi government ably fight the pandemic.
“With the emergence of the Omicron variant, this support is timely to accelerate vaccinations, and secure the storage of vaccines across the country. I strongly believe this cold chain assistance is in line with the goal to achieve vaccine equity. No one is safe until everyone is safe.” said Iwakiri.
Iwakiri concluded by promising more support from his government, UNICEF and all other developmental partners, in as far as the procurement and supply of vaccines and immunization supplies is concerned.
In her reaction, Malawi’s Minister of Health, Honourable Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda who received the donation on behalf of the Malawi government, described the coming in of the equipments as so timely.
She further said: “COVID-19 has placed a heavy burden on essential healthcare and social services in Malawi. We are grateful for the support from the Government of Japan through UNICEF, which will go a long way in equipping the Ministry of Health with essential supplies in the fight against COVID-19.”
The donated equipments include a walk-in cooler, ice-lined refrigerators, 460 vaccine carriers, 100 cold boxes, 18 remote temperature monitoring devices, and maintenance toolkits just to mention but a few.
