HEALTH-MALAWI: Water Woes in Model Hospital

By Pilirani Semu-Banda LILONGWE, Jun 27 (IPS) - Gladys Mawera's face is contorted with pain – both she and her newborn baby survived a complicated birth three days ago, but she has not been able to take the painkillers and antibiotics prescribed to her by the medical personnel at the Chiradzulu District Hospital in southern Malawi. The hospital has been without water for five days. "I am disgusted with my own smell and that of my baby," says Mawera, who is still wrapped in bloodstained linens as she cradles her child. "There is literally not a drop of water around here," worries Mawera. Chiradzulu hospital is one of the country's model hospitals. The medical facility was built with around $25 million funding from the European Union and boasts of a modern operating theatre, state-of-the art laboratory where sophisticated blood... [read full story]