A British Emergency Medical Team (EMT) will deploy to Malawi for 8 weeks to support the Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 response, particularly in the management of critically ill COVID patients, community perceptions around COVID- 19 and support for community engagement on national COVID-19 – 19 vaccination campaigns.

The UK EMT is a rapid medical response capability, comprised of world-class experts who provide frontline medical care, advice and support to governments, the World Health Organization (WHO) and local health workers during epidemics and humanitarian emergencies to save lives and relieve suffering.

Since the onset of the COVID crisis, the UK EMT has supported global efforts to respond to the pandemic by deploying specialist staff to work alongside ministries of health, the WHO-EMT secretariat, country offices of WHO, as well as other United Nations agencies. and international NGOs.

EMT members have deployed to Ghana, Cambodia, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Bangladesh, South Africa, Chad, Lebanon and most recently Armenia, Lesotho, Namibia and Botswana and have also supported the national response in the UK with the establishment of Manchester Nightingale. field hospital.

British High Commissioner to Malawi David Beer said:

COVID-19 is a global problem that requires a global solution. No one is safe until everyone is safe. The UK continues to be Malawi’s close partner in the pandemic response, supporting vaccines and the medical response. We are delighted to be able to deploy an emergency medical team to the UK to support health authorities on the ground.

UK EMT Team Leader Ngoni Mac Nyambawaro said:

On behalf of the UK Emergency Medical Team, our team of highly trained experts look forward to supporting national healthcare teams in caring for patients with COVID-19 and building their capacity to ensure that the impact of this response lasts well beyond the time that we are. in Malawi.

Minister of Health Hon. Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said:

The COVID-19 pandemic presents an obvious challenge to the country’s economy, communities and health system. The on-the-ground support and capacity building of our healthcare professionals through UK EMT, along with risk communication and community and healthcare worker engagement, will help us better prepare for future waves.

The UK has been at the forefront of the global response to COVID-19, launching the COVAX facility in 2020 and investing £ 90million to support the development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

In addition to supporting the immediate humanitarian response in Malawi with £ 9.67 million and co-funding the COVAX vaccines Malawi has received, the UK has also provided 119,040 vaccines bilaterally to date.