China set to deploy medical mission to Malawi

China which entered into partnership with Malawi end last year would be deploying a medical mission to the Southern African nation, its ambassador said on Saturday.

China’s ambassador to Malawi Lin Songtian said his country would be deploying a medical mission to Malawi before the end of June.

“I want to disclose to you that a team of medical workers, mostly doctors and specialists will arrive here around 25th June to establish a medical mission in this country,” Songtian said on Saturday, during a visit of Mzuzu Central Hospital in the northern region of Malawi.

He said the team would be deployed to Mzuzu and Lilongwe the country’s capital as part of his government’s commitment to partnership with Malawi.


The ambassador said his country prioritizes people’s needs and therefore would want to see the Warm Heart of Africa attain substantial development and improve its economy.

“Malaria is our top priority because we have noted it is a top killer. Let me share with you the information that we have a very good malaria drug in China so I would look at the possibility of Malawi accessing this,” Songtian told the country’s local daily of the Daily Times.

In another development the country’s prison department has said plans are underway to open more detention centres in order to reduce the problem of overcrowding in Malawi’s prisons.

This revelation comes after Amnesty International, a worldwide pressure group whose aim is to uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights disclosed in its latest annual report that prison conditions in the Malawi were degrading.

The report, among other things, revealed that overcrowding and lack of adequate food and health care in prisons still persisted.

"Overcrowding and lack of adequate food and health care persisted and a number of 11,000 prisoners were held in jails designed to hold 5,000 inmates,” stated the report.

Prisons spokesperson Tobias Nowa said in an interview that the department was intending to open more centers as one way of addressing the problem of overcrowding.