The Lilongwe Institute of Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery (Lion) is grappling with the problem of overcrowding, as rising numbers of road traffic accident victims overwhelm its capacity.

Lion Chief Executive Officer Sven Young told The Daily Times that despite the opening of a modern facility in 2024, the centre, which is located at Kamuzu Central Hospital, continues to face a surge in patients, many of them injured in motorcycle accidents and collisions involving vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.

“With only 60 public beds available in Phase 1 and over 120 to 150 patients in the wards at all times, we have been forced to replace many hospital beds with mattresses on the floor,” Young said.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda said the government would soon introduce tough penalties for motorcycle tax (kabaza) to curb the accidents.

The sharp rise in motorcycle taxi or kabaza accidents is particularly alarming.

The hospital now treats more than 150 kabaza victims each month, with nearly half of all traffic accident cases involving motorcycles, Kandodo Chiponda noted.

She said the expansion of the centre’s capacity, which is under phase 3 of the Lion project, would culminate in the addition of 100 more beds, adding that it’s going to be a “huge improvement” — but warned that infrastructure alone would not solve the crisis.

“This will still not be enough if nothing is done to prevent road traffic injuries in the country,” Kandodo Chiponda said.

She stressed the need for sustained commitment and preventive measures to stem the tide of road traffic injuries.

Lion has benefitted from long-term partnerships and international support.

The Ministry of Health provided land, staff and operational funding while Norway’s Haukeland University Hospital has supported the trauma programme since 2007.

The AO Alliance Foundation contributed $2 million in 2014 to support the development of a semi-autonomous and financially sustainable model and continues to back trauma staff training efforts.

The Royal Norwegian Embassy supplied $4 million worth of equipment and hospital furniture for phase 1 and, later this year, Lion will mark another milestone with the opening of its $2.4 million Research and Training Building funded by CBM.

A study which National Association of Nurses and Midwives (Nonm) conducted revealed that the health budget was ballooning, largely due to kazaba motorcycle taxi accidents.

Nonm indicates that, in 2024 alone, the country’s public health secto