Member of Parliament (MP) for Salima North-West Constituency, Dr Jessie Kabwira has urged stakeholders in the country to intensify improved and quality health services delivery in rural areas the way to enhance a health nation which is prerequisite for sustainable development.
This comes amid dwindling of health services delivery in many health facilities across Malawi especially in rural areas whereas there is much negligence as people are not supported efficiently.
Dr Kabwira made the appeal after touring her constituency’s Khombedza Health Centre together with other stakeholders working in Salima district as over 2,831 pregnant mothers are in dare need of bed and guarding shelter for improved maternal health delivery.
She said based on the rooming hunger ahead of harvesting season due to floods, hailstorms and dry spell which hit the district required a strategic plan on how best health delivery would be executed as many diseases occurs due to hunger.
“There is rooming hunger ahead of us due to natural cause that hit the district including my constituency as such strategic planning is paramount to challenge any impact which hunger will bring to our people. This is the reason, all stakeholders who are working here were required to tour my constituency’s health facility and come up with possible ways of improving it.
“We need to graduate from dependency syndrome of always waiting government and other international organizations doing everything for us which isn’t sustainable. Therefore, I’m calling all citizens of this nation to start thinking of developing their homes health facilities as that the key area of our being”, urges Dr. Kabwira.
Traditional Authorities (TAs) Khombedza and Makachinjira of the constituency coincided with their legislator saying their subjects were ready to take any developmental projects on health service delivery to the highest level without waiting something in return.
“There are many companies, NGOs and individuals who were given land to do their work here but little has been done to our area’s development. This is our opportunity for us to see them helping the people especially on health. They must bring back what they owe to the community through social cooperate responsibility. We are ready to do any work freely which aims at improving our areas”, says TA Makanjira.
Responding to the appeal, Dr. Wilson Gondwe, Executive Vice President of Malawi Mangoes Limited the company working in the area assured the communities of total support in developmental projects saying the company was ready to develop the health facility to the centre of excellence.
“We have a very good picture on what is going on the ground such that best response will be given to the community. The health centre is helping us a lot as all our workers depend on it for health services so why not us giving it back. This work is for all of us,” assures Dr. Gondwe.
Khombedza health centre was opened in 1980, situated 25 km away from the northern part Salima district which covers the population of 60,000 with 2,831 expectant mothers in dare need of guarding shelter and beds as over 200 deliveries are done monthly.
Among other challenges the health centre is facing which needs urgent attention including lack of under five clinic (shelter), communication systems, incinerators, fire extinguishers, the need to have a fence and insufficient of health personnel as it has two medical assistants, four nurses, 38 Health Surveillance Assistants and seven health attendants.
