* Initiatives implemented through the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association have helped promote the responsible use of medicines
* Our health workers are gaining the knowledge and tools needed to ensure medicines are used responsibly and effectively in health facilities
* Including through the introduction of the Electronic Medicines Management System— Deputy Minister of Health & Sanitation, Charles Chilambula
By Duncan Mlanjira
At the commemoration of the 2026 Commonwealth Day held at the British High Commissioner’s Residence in Lilongwe today, March 9, Deputy Minister of Health & Sanitation, Charles Chilambula indicated that Malawi is benefiting from Commonwealth-supported health programmes aimed at strengthening the fight against antimicrobial resistance and improving the management of medicines in health facilities.
Advertisement
Malawi Government’s official Facebook account reports that Chilambula told the gathering that initiatives implemented through the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association have helped promote the responsible use of medicines.
“Through these programmes, our health workers are gaining the knowledge and tools needed to ensure medicines are used responsibly and effectively in health facilities, including through the introduction of the Electronic Medicines Management System (e-MMS),” Chilambula is quoted as saying.
He also commended the United Kingdom for its support, through the Fleming Fund, which has strengthened laboratory services, disease surveillance, and the skills of more than 8,000 frontline health workers in Malawi over the past five years.
Acting British High Commissioner and Development Director for Malawi, Ben Nicholson, said the Commonwealth remains an important platform for cooperation among member states.
“The Commonwealth brings together 56 countries and 2.7 billion people, creating a unique platform for collaboration on global challenges such as health, climate change and development,” he said.
In health, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), to be held in Antigua and Barbuda in November, will also host the first-ever Global Eye Health Summit, a landmark event aimed at advancing international action on vision care and the prevention of avoidable blindness.
Her Royal Highness Sophie, The Duchess of Edinburgh, hosted a reception at St James’s Palace on March 4, 2026, to commemorate the official launch of the Global Eye Health Summit in her capacity as the Global Ambassador for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).
Malawi High Commissioner to the UK, His Excellency Dr. Thomas Bisika joining Her Royal Highness Sophie and other dignitaries at St James’s Palace on March 4
Meanwhile, Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne viartually participated the launch of the Global Eye Health Summit from St James’s Palace in London, and is quoted by Antigua News describing eye health as both a humanitarian and economic issue, stressing that the global cost of poor vision extends far beyond individual hardship.
“The challenge related to eye health is not only a profound human challenge — it is an economic one,” the Prime Minister is quoted as saying, emphasising that that investing in eye health should not be seen as charity but rather as a strategic investment in inclusive growth, resilience and shared prosperity.
In 2022, The Countess of Wessex visited Malawi in 2022 to join the country in the celebration of elimination-of-trachoma-eye-disease/, which was achieved through support the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust Fund, that focuses on offering financial support to help combat avoidable blindness across the Commonwealth.
She was quoted by Bournemouth’s The Daily Echo then saying that the success of the elimination of the trachoma eye disease “means that future generations of Malawians will not have to face the high risk of blindness caused by it [along with] the irritation, the terrible pain, the scarring and the darkness, nor the prospect of not being able to learn, work or cook without help and support”.
The Countess of Wessex meets eye surgery patient, Litens Dalali and surgeon Gladys Ntwana (left) in Mgawi
The visit to Malawi, her second after she toured in 2017 as vice-patron of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, marked the World Sight Day. Malawi was the first country supported by the Trust to reach the milestone of trachoma elimination.
She brought with her a personal letter from King Charles III in which he wrote: “This is a remarkable success, and a true testament to all those whose hard work, dedication and commitment has led to Malawi becoming the first country in Southern Africa to eliminate this devastating, neglected tropical disease as a public health issue.”
Highlights of her visit in pictures by Jane Barlow/Press Associated (PA)
