Glove crisis hits district hospitals

District hospitals are facing a critical shortage of medical gloves following a stockout at Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST), forcing councils to divert part of their drug budgets to buy supplies from private entities.

In the wake of the stockout, Malawi Local Government Association (Malga) has warned that councils risk exhausting the funds and appealed to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation for urgent intervention.

Malga said the shortage is compromising infection prevention and control in public health facilities.

In random checks yesterday, The Nation established that the shortage has persisted for about four months with most councils using part of the devolved 10 percent drug budget to procure gloves from private suppliers.

Malga executive director Hadrod Mkandawire, in an interview yesterday, confirmed that the association was engaging relevant authorities on the matter.

In a July 20 2026 letter to Ministry of Health and Sanitation The Nation has seen, Malga said local authorities had exhausted the devolved drug budget and were now in a critical situation.

Reads the letter: “We have further established that the Local Authorities have been mobilising support from their own sources; however, at the moment, there is no concrete commitment. As such, there is no other available option at the local level to address this challenge.”

Through the communication, Malga asked government to urgently replenish CMST glove stocks or authorise Treasury to release the next tranche of the devolved drug budget in advance so councils can continue buying gloves from the open market.

Parliamentary Committee on Health chairperson Anthony Masamba said in an interview yesterday that the committee was alerted to the shortage, warning that it threatens the quality of healthcare.

The Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC) has also written Treasury seeking an explanation for delays in disbursing funds to councils, saying the holdups have affected the availability of medical supplies in public hospitals.

HRDC chairperson Michael Kaiyatsa said the coalition acted after receiving reports that hospitals were running short of essential supplies, including gloves.

“Hospitals are lacking basic medical supplies, including gloves. This is worse for staff working in critical sections such as theatres, labour and maternity wards,” he said, adding that Treasury had not responded despite a follow-up this week.

Health Rights Education Programme executive director Maziko Matemba described the situation as serious and urged government to release emergency funding for glove procurement.

He also called for long-term measures, including promoting local production of essential medical supplies to reduce dependence on imports and scarce foreign exchange.

By press time at 9pm, Minister of Health and Sanitation Madalitso Baloyi had not yet responded to our questionnaire seeking an explanation.

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