Chakwera launches a MK19 billion CREATOR facility in Blantyre
Published on August 8, 2024 at 12:00 PM by Robert Ngwira
President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera has launched the Clinical Research Excellence and Training Open Resource Centre (CREATOR) constructed at the Malawi-Liverpool Welcome Trust (MLWT) premises in Blantyre, with a call for the country to invest in scientific research in an attempt to build a nation of excellence.
Speaking on Wednesday at Kamuzu College of Health Sciences (KUHES) Sport Complex, Chakwera observed that any country that is serious in attaining an industrialized, self-reliant and middle income economy; scientific research is key to realization of such aspirations.
“My administration is determined to do so without fail knowing that a nation that has no strong research institutions is a nation that is running in ignorance and guess work and that has a huge price to pay.
“The launch of the CREATOR is therefore the latest testament that my administration is proud of and I congratulate KUHES for this feat,” he said.
Chakwera also said his government would continue to build strong institutions that are capable of enforcing the law in addition to supporting institutions like KUHES to increase research and clinical excellence activities.
He therefore, challenged the authorities to maximize the usage of the newly launched research facility to come up with research that would add value to emerging public health issues and development at large.
Chakwera also directed the Ministry of Education to crack down on any uncredited training institutions operating in the country without adhering to the required standards, noting that such institutions fuel ignorance among the country’s citizenry.
MLWT Director of Research Programme, Professor Henry Mwandumba hailed the president for launching the CREATOR.
Mwandumba said management of the institution was delighted to celebrate the greatest milestone that MLWT, under its research programme has made, stating that the CREATOR building for Malawi will be a significant change in the scale of clinical research.
He added that the facility would also be a reversal of the accepted norm of trainees leaving Malawi and the Sub-Saharan African region to source high-quality specialist education.
Mwandumba pledged that MLWT will continue to produce high-quality research to improve the health and well-being of people in Malawi and the region at large.
“We believe healthy people are key to the realization of the Malawi 2063 aspirations; hence, our commitment to the cause,” he added.
Speaking earlier, KUHES Vice Chancellor, Professor McPherson Malewa said the institution through various partnerships is determined to take health research and trainings to greater heights.
Malewa said aside other projects, KUHES plans to construct a multi-million-kwacha drug industry to minimize the cost of importing drugs.
“Annually, Malawi imports 90 percent of drugs which is costly. So, with this project, the trajectory is likely to change,” he said.
Earlier in the day, President Chakwera, together with the First Lady, Madame Monica Chakwera, toured the newly built state-of-the-art infrastructure at the MLWT premises to appreciate some of its sections such as high-tech laboratories, flexible learning spaces and simulation rooms.
The first couple also inspected administration block under construction at KUHES which is expected to accommodate nearly 1,500 people including the Vice Chancellor and other administrative officers.
The CREATOR has been built with financial support from the University of Liverpool, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and MLWT to the tune of nine million Pounds an equivalent of MK19 billion.
Source:MANA
