WaterAid targets 150 health care facilities by 2025

As one way of promoting good health, hygiene and sanitation in the country, WaterAid International has emphasized the need to improve access to clean Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Health Care Facilities in order to achieve Universal Health Coverage in the country. This was said during a media tour in the areas of Traditional Authority Kawinga and Chikwewo…

By Brighton Tchongwe

As one way of promoting good health, hygiene and sanitation in the country, WaterAid International has emphasized the need to improve access to clean Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Health Care Facilities in order to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the country.

This was said during a media tour in the areas of Traditional Authority (T/A) Kawinga and Chikwewo in Machinga District that was aimed at appreciating some of the achievements from different Health Care Facilities that are benefiting from the project.

The Country Director for Malawi WaterAid International Mercy Masoo said the project is targeting 150 health Care Facilities by the year 2025.

Masoo said the campaign has so far made significant strides as they have reached out to 33 health care facilities in the districts of Kasungu, Machinga, Nkhotakota, Ntchisi, Lilongwe and Ntcheu.

“Our health care facilities here in Malawi do lack basic needs such as safe water, sanitation and hygiene which is contributing to failure by the country to reach UHC recommendations.

“In order to complement governments efforts to providing quality health care services, as an organization we do have a program called 150 health Care Facilities challenge where we want to make sure that we want to support the improvement of water, Sanitation and Hygiene in 150 health care facilities out of which we are going to do direct support to 75 of these health care facilities, said Masoo.”

She added that, ” As WaterAid, we are also asking other partners to join the campaign by supporting the other 75 health Care Facilities in order to beat our 2025 target.

According to our estimates, out of 600 health care facilities plus at least 300 health care facilities do need attention in as far as improvement of water Sanitation and Hygiene is concerned.

At the meantime, Masoo has call upon the Government, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), development partners and non-state actors to invest more resources towards sustainable WASH infrastructure and interventions in Health Care Facilities across the country.

Masoo thanked GIZ for supporting the Delivery Life 2 project as a WaterAid is currently expanding its reach to improve WASH services in 15 additional Health Care Facilities in a project valued at 600,000 Euros.

District Nursing and Midwifery for Machinga District Memory Bwanali thanked WaterAid for constructing bathrooms and toilets at Kawinga health facility and Chikwewo health Centre saying before these construction women had nowhere to bath and they were using toilets that was not in good condition for hygiene.

Bwanali said, “The construction of these facilities like bathrooms and toilets has really helped for women to start delivering in the hospitals in the past the women used not come to the hospitals because they were unhappy with the facility, but now they are able to come to the hospitals in large numbers to deliver and it has reduced the number of home deliveries.”

Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Elias Chimulambe said the ministry has established the department of Sanitation and Hygiene that will help to improve sanitation and hygiene issues saying the ministry will be recruiting staffs in all Districts that will be working hand in hand with partners across the country

One of the Deliver Life 2 project implementers, District Civic Education Officer for NICE trust in Zomba and Machinga Districts, Kondwani Newa said they have engaged all the committees at the facilities to protect and manage the facilities to ensure that they are secured.

Both Officers in Charge Francis Thonga and Kote Chigama for Kawinga and Chikwewo health care facilities respectively expressed concerns of no electricity as a result they have problems during deliveries especially at night as they are forced to use candles and torches for lighting.

In an interview with the Deputy Minister of Health Enock Phale responded that the ministry is aware of the challenges saying currently they have put measures to ensure that ESCOM has fixed the technical issues at Kawinga and Chikwewo health care facilities

“For Chikwewo ESCOM changed meter from postpaid to prepaid meter since that change, the units DHO procured can’t be entered. We are in touch with ESCOM Blantyre where we were referred by ESCOM liwonde in order to fix the technical issues, however the technical issues has not been resolved till date but we keep following up with them,” said Phale.

“On Kawinga Dispensary, Machinga DHO has submitted a request as one of the proposed facility for electrification under GESD funds this year and we hope that Machinga full council will pass it so that we can get the health facility electrified this year,” he added.

One of the project beneficiaries, Dorica Dickson from Chindamba Village, T/A Kawinga said before the project they used to walk long distance to fetch water which was also puting their families at risk especially when they used to return during later hour’s hence the project has helped to ease the challenge.

The project is funded by the Scottish government to the tune of MK1.9 billion through WaterAid and implemented by National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) Public Trust and Amref.

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