Government has hailed Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS) and Village Hygiene Projects for their interventions that have seen three Traditional Authorities in Mangochi achieve Open Defecation Free (ODF) status.
Celebrations for the attainment of the ODF status for the three TAs Chowe, Namavi and STA Chiunda, were held on Saturday at Chimbende Primary School in TA Chowe where Minister of Health, Atupele Muluzi, presented certificates to the three TAs.
The minister said government always appreciates complementary support that organizations such as MRCS render to government especially in promoting ODF, a programme government started in 2008.
“We applaud Malawi Red Cross Society and Hygiene Village Projects for working with the people in the three TAs to ensure that each and every household owns and uses a well-covered toilet and that they wash hands with soap after visiting the toilets,” said Muluzi.
The minister said it is interventions like these that see Mangochi registering no single case of cholera while close to 600 cases and 12 deaths have been recorded across the country since the disease broke out in Karonga in November 2017.
Muluzi hailed Mangochi chiefs, health officers and Red Cross volunteers in the district for keeping cholera at bay and urged them to ensure that every household uses treated water at all times.
MRCS President, Levison Changole, said there is a very good collaboration between MRCS and health workers and that the TAs and their subjects have been very supportive throughout the implementation of the community resilience project which is being supported by a consortium of Danish, Finnish, Icelandic and Italian Red Cross Societies.
Changole said MRCS will continue to support government in the area of promotion of hygiene and sanitation in line with Sustainable Development Goal number 6.2 which urges countries to achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all, including those in the vulnerable situations by 2030.
“At Malawi Red Cross Society we realise that it is only a healthy society that can contribute efficiently to the development of the country and to fight diseases better there is need to enforce hygiene and sanitation,” said Changole.
He added: “My appeal to the people of Mangochi, especially in the three TAs we are celebrating here, is for them to embrace the development and move forward with it even after we have pulled out.”
The MRCS President also hailed government for its support through the health office both at district and community levels and other sister National Societies namely: Danish Red Cross, Icelandic Red Cross, Finish Red Cross and Italian Red Cross for their financial support which has necessitated the ODF status in Mangochi.
Hygiene Village Project Executive Director, Roy Khonyongwa, said the ODF Status in the three TAs was achieved through a process called Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) where communities played a leading role in finding solutions to sanitation gaps.
Khonyongwa hailed the three TAs and their subjects for accepting the intervention and he concurred with the MRCS President in appealing to the people to sustain the good hygiene and sanitation practices they had learned.
Before the celebrations, the minister visited two households where he sampled their respective toilets and hand-washing outfit commonly called (Mpondagiya). The minister was briefed on how the households use the facilities.
Chowe, Namavi and Chiunda bring the number of TAs with ODF status in the country to 86 with 177 TAs yet to achieve the status, according to Health Minister, Atupele.