Madonna in Malawi to open kids' hospital wing

Blantyre : US pop superstar Madonna was due Tuesday to formally open a children's hospital wing that her charity has built in Malawi and which is named after one of her four adopted Malawian children.

The Mercy James paediatric hospital unit in Blantyre, the country's second city, has taken two years to build and includes three operating theatres and a 50-bed ward.

It is the first specialist health unit for children in the poor southern African nation, doubling the capacity for paediatric care at the Queen Elizabeth hospital.

Government officials confirmed Madonna, 58, was in Blantyre for Tuesday's scheduled opening ceremony, which is also due to be attended by President Peter Mutharika.

Earlier this year Madonna adopted twin girls from an orphanage in the southern African country after hearing of their plight through her charity "Raising Malawi".

Twins Estere and Stella, four years old, joined her other Malawian children Mercy James and David Banda, both 11.

Madonna, who set up the charity in 2006, has been a regular visitor to Malawi, taking Mercy and David last year when she inspected ongoing work at the children's hospital wing.