A fire swept through the tuberculosis ward at Mulanje District Hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning, causing significant structural damage. According to 247Malawi News, the blaze started around 1:00 a.m. while patients and medical staff were resting. Hospital spokesperson Peter Nasoni confirmed that emergency responders and hospital personnel safely evacuated all patients to secure areas, resulting in no injuries. While the exact cause of the fire remains under investigation, hospital management stated that medical services are continuing uninterrupted as they arrange alternative accommodations for the affected patients.
In other public health developments, the Malawi Health Equity Network and the Kidney Foundation of Malawi have raised an alarm over the country's rising burden of kidney disease. Following World Kidney Day on Thursday, the organisations warned that the condition is silently claiming lives due to a severe shortage of specialised care, reports Nyasa Times. Currently, public dialysis services are limited to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre and Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe. MHEN Executive Director George Jobe and Chairperson Yandura Chipeta urged the government to expand dialysis centres to other regions, noting that the long distances and high costs associated with treatment are putting thousands of patients at risk.
Update: A health intervention by the Parents of Disabled Children Association of Malawi has restored sight to a 17-year-old girl in Mchinji who had been blind from cataracts since age three. Building on previous medical assistance provided by the Norad-funded TIKUMA project, Nyasa Times reports that the latest surgery was conducted at Nkhoma Mission Hospital. The ongoing initiative has screened over 800 children to date, facilitating corrective surgeries and distributing assistive medical devices such as hearing aids and wheelchairs to families who cannot afford travel to major central hospitals.