Over 40 Community Facilitators Trained On Reproductive Health Issues
By Our Reporter in Karonga
KARONGA (MaraviPost iReport): A local organization that deal with such issues have expressed dissatisfaction over the community’s development committee’s failure to prioritize the health sector saying it is fueling to the increase of the death of expectant mothers as well as new born babies.
This has been revealed during the six days training workshop of community facilitators organized by the Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS) in the district.
According to Chimwemwe Mwafongo who is the field officer of FOCUS in Karonga, most of the community development committees such as the Area Developmental Committees (ADC) in all the five Traditional Authorities in the district only prioritize education sector on their plans leaving the health sector curly.
“It is very worrisome to see that when nongovernmental organizations are busy finding ways of reducing maternal and neonatal deaths in the district while the duty bearers especially the community development committees such as ADCs and VDCs are not including issues concern the health sector in their developmental plan ,” said Mwafongo.
“This reduces the health facilities such as houses for the health personnel in the health centers a development which makes some clinics to operate without trained personnel thereby increasing maternal and neonatal death in the district,” Mwafongo claimed.
He said the aim of the training was therefore to equip the community facilitators on how they can tackled issues of reproductive health in their area in order to disseminate the information to the rural areas where there’s increase of maternal and neonatal death.
In his remarks the Chairperson of community facilitators Dick Sichali commended the organization for the training saying “it has come at the right time when the district has lost seven women within six months.”
Sichali said “We shall now sensitize our development committees when we go back home so that they should include issues concern the health sector in their development plan.”
According to 2015 July to December’s report the Main hospital registered seven maternal deaths due to shortage of blood among others.
