Students at the Polytechnic, a constituent college of the University of Malawi have made innovative products in response to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

The products were presented to the Secretary for Labour, Skills and Innovation, Esmie Kainja, who visited the college last Thursday. The products presented are ventilators, masks, sanitisers and sanitiser sensors which can be used in places where there is congestion. The Polytechnic principal Grant Kululanga willing to partner with industries through the Ministry of Labour, Skills and Innovation after a memorandum of understanding is signed.

Kainja commended the innovations as very crucial amidst the pandemic. “Youths at the university have come up with ventilators that can be used in our health institutions.” she said, while outlining that more stakeholders must be involved to avail the products to the masses. The university needs to work with the Malawi Bureau of Standards and the Malawi Poisons Board for standardisation and certification of some products, including ventilators that will be useful in hospitals and other important institutions.” she said.

Last month, the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) recommended products from five manufacturing companies to supply hand sanitisers, after noting that there has been an influx of various types of hand sanitizers on the market. After manufacturers voluntarily brought samples of hand sanitisers for testing to check conformity with standards, MBS has approved 5 companies to produce hand sanitizers