Malawi hit by shortage of family planning supplies
Saturday, April 06, 2019

Malawi government has disclosed that the destruction that Tropical Cyclone Idai left behind in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe has led to a shortage of family planning supplies in the country.

A statement signed by Principal Secretary of Ministry of Health and Population Services, Dan Namalika, and made available to the media Tuesday says most of the family planning supplies Malawi ordered are stuck in at Beira Sea Port in Mozambique.

The statement comes just days after the UNFPA estimated that about 12 thousand deliveries are expected in the camps as 30 thousand women and girls of reproductive age are among the affected population.

"We wish to inform the general public that we are temporarily experiencing lower levels of some family planning commodities particularly injectables like Depo_IM, Implanon and Jadelle," reads part of the statement.

But the statement calls on Malawians not to despair as the ministry is doing everything possible to manage the situation and that normal supply of the commodities will be restored soon.

"Meanwhile we are making internal arrangements to redistribute what is available in some facilities to ensure that we have some stock everywhere as we are working to restore normal supply chain," reads the statement.

The Principal Secretary has also called upon all implementing partners who may be stocking the mentioned commodities to link up with the ministry for possible assistance.

Xinhua