At the current pace of the SDG 6 which aims at ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all cannot be achieved unless acceleration plan is developed and implemented Owen Nyaka writes.
For several years, the Malawi Government has been working towards access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), but there has been slow progress in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 6.
UNICEF and the World Bank says Malawi needs an investment of USD$238 million annually, up 2030, if this targets is to be met but currently, what is available annually is less than USD$100 million is available annually.
When lunching the WaterAid Malawi programme strategy for 2023-2028 on September 5, 2023, Minister of Water and Sanitation, Abida Mia said government is concerned that 23 percent of health facilities in the country do not have access to WASH facilities.
She said seven million people have no basic drinking water, 14 million people are using unimproved sanitation facilities while 17 million do not practice hand washing with soap and water.
These alarming figures does not spare Ntchisi; for instance due to lack of water, maternity wings at Sambakusi and Chandwe health posts have been idle for five years.
These facilities were constructed in 2006 by local communities and the Malawi Redcross, with financial support from Korean Redcross, notably Community Chest of Korea.
The situation in Ntchisi poses a very big threat to the right to life and dignity for workers, guardians, patients and especially newborn babies and women.
Zione Chirwa, 41, is one of the underprivileged rural women who have been experiencing the challenges during childbearing.
The mother of six, who is health centre management committee (HCMC) Secretary at Sambakusi health post says the community moulded bricks and contributed money for the constructing the maternity wing, but their efforts have been in vain due to water scarcity.
“We provided bricks and contributed MK800, 000 while Malawi Red Cross provided sand and roofing materials but it is sad that to date the maternity wings are not operational and child bearing remains a big problem,” says Chirwa.
She, however say people around Sambakusi are still eager to see the maternity functioning, to provide a safe environment for women to deliver their newborns.
Chirwa says they are constructing a guardian shelter towards which the communities have contributed MK900, 000.00.
Women around Chandwe health post face the same struggle.
One of them is Catherine Dick, who didn’t give her particulars, but said stigma and discrimination are high, especially amongst the post-natal and under-5 age group.
She said in the 5years their maternity facility have been idle, babies have been given names such as Kunthochi, Kuchigwembe, Pamwala, and Pamango as remembrance that they were delivered in such horrible places.
Dick, said some expectant women travel long distances, with some coming from far as neighboring Nkhotakota and Dowa districts to access antenatal services only.
Others walk 40 kilometers from Chandwe health post to Ntchisi District Hospital to deliver.
Village head Sambakusi whose real name is Christina Mbalame said because of long distances, some women end up being fined, as per by-laws in force in the area, for delivering on their way to the hospital.
“Any woman who delivers outside the hospital is fined a goat (K50, 000) for embarrassing the village and its chieftaincy,” said village head Sambakusi.
In Traditional Authority Vusojere in Ntchisi, notably in Chinkhande area where there is a government facility but no maternity wing, pregnant women walks 20 kilometers to Chinthembwe health centre under Christian Health Association of Malawi (CHAM).
These women walks in round terrain because, owing to the poor rod network, there is no reliable mode of transport.
More often than not Chinkhande health facility functions after communities contribute money and send someone to pedal a bicycle for 20 kilometers to Ntchisi District Hospital to collect medical supplies; otherwise the facility remains temporarily closed.
Chinkhande health centre in-charge Felix Zachariah confirmed serious problems in terms of transportation to get medical supplies, saying they rely on the community.
While water is essential at the health facilities, especially in the maternity wings, Zachariah said that there are a lot of activities that require water during childbirth, “therefore, lack of water means women deliver is an unhealthy environment”.
He said, WASH are key fundamentals for quality health care, pandemic response and preparedness, and curbing the rise of antimicrobial resistance.
Light at the end of tunnel WaterAid Malawi program officer Laston Mzungu recently told journalists during a media tour to ARMANI Acqua For Life project sites in Ntchisi that his non-profit organisation has reaffirmed its commitment to ensure that residents in the district have access to potable water and sanitation services.
“We have secured £1.2 million pounds (about MK2.6 billion kwacha) from the United Kingdom Wimbledon Foundation for the construction of WASH facilities in 10 villages and Chandwe and Sambakusi health posts and Chinkhande health centre,” says Mzungu.
Meanwhile, WaterAid implemented the four and half year Deliver Life 2 similar project, which aimed at improving service delivery and health outcomes for 141,000 women adolescent girls and under-five children living in the low-income rural areas of Malawi.
The project ran from October 2018 to March 2023 and was implemented in Machinga and Zomba districts.
Deliver Life 2 project contributes to the 150 Health Care Facility challenge and has reached out to four health facilities with comprehensive WASH packages which includes an incinerator, ash pit, reticulated water supply system, disability friendly latrines and bathrooms.
Redcross Malawi communications and resource mobilization specialist Felix Washoni commended WaterAid Malawi for the investment which will enhance the quality of healthcare services in Ntchisi.
Commenting on the Ntchisi abandoned maternity facilities which have been deprived of clean water for five years, Washoni said it is good for the partnership collaboration in helping government towards promoting WASH facilities and improving service delivery in the country’s health facilities.
“First, I want to make it clear that it was not our responsibility to bring water. We did our part by constructing the maternity sections and handed them over. We are happy that a new partner, WaterAid Malawi, come in. Government cannot manage to overcome the burden hence the need for partnerships,” said Washoni.
Water and Environmental Sanitation (WES) Network, executive director Willies Mwandira said in the next budget the Ministry of Finance should consider increasing the WASH budget to ensure it conforms to the MK207 billion threshold.
In view of the limited fiscal space, Mwandira said government should implement some of the WASH financing strategies proposed in the Malawi Climate Resilient Financing strategy by among other things introducing sanitation and hygiene-related fines to polluters, introducing taxes on private companies undertaking garbage collection or cleaning businesses within cities and districts.
It also includes creating basket or trust fund for all WASH programs in Malawi, this will allow for easy mobilization and distribution of resources towards the various WASH projects in the country.
These initiatives, and many more can accelerate progress towards SDG 6 and bring light at the end of the tunnel to most people that are craving for potable water
