Zomba communities within Domasi-North East are eager to see a community hospital completed to ease their challenges in accessing healthcare services.
In separate interviews during the week, community members said completion of the facility will lessen the burden of travelling long distances to either Zomba Central Hospital—the largest referral facility in the Eastern region, or other health facilities.
Miriam Jenala from the area said women have been delivering enroute to health facilities; hence, completion of the facility will emancipate women from such an embarrassment.
She said: “Delivering on the roadside is embarrassing and in some instances, pregnant women have to travel in terrible weather conditions, which is degrading.”
Prior to construction works at the facility, Jenala said the situation was hopeless.
She said the community never anticipated that a proper facility would be erected in their community, let alone a health post.
Jenala said she once travelled in the rains to get her first born child to Zomba Central Hospital. She said this was one of the unforgettable moments of her motherhood.
“Three wrappers were not enough to cover my sick child from my home to the stage to wait for a minibus,” she said.
Fortunately, the child got better after being admitted at the facility for three days. But the experience still haunts Jenala.
Construction of the facility, which began over a decade ago and is currently at 95 percent, is among health projects the Tonse Alliance government commits to complete to improve Malawi’s healthcare delivery system.
The contractor of the facility is working on fittings and paintings and priority was given to the outpatient department, administration block and 10 staff houses which have so far been completed.
In a separate interview, Jefferson Mpindamalata said the facility will go a long way in assisting the community.
The member of the village development committee said: “We have a lot of diseases springing out in this community and we hope we will be ably assisted with this burden.”
He said due to the long distances that people have been travelling, most diseases were left untreated since people would opt to use traditional ways of curing ailments, which would often not work.
He the situation would worsen in times of outbreaks like cholera, which would sadly result in death.
Construction of the Domasi Community Hospital is just one of the many projects the Tonse Alliance administration is prioritising in the 2025/26 fiscal year.
The 2025 Public Sector Investment Plan (PSIP) from Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs—which is part of the National Budget documents, shows that government is prioritising completion of the National Cancer Centre and construction of 55 health posts.
Other projects include construction of Dowa and Rumphi hospitals, construction of Chikwawa District Hospital and Mponela Community Hospital. These projects are anticipated to ease challenges people are facing in accessing healthcare services across Malawi.
For the 55 health posts, the Ministry of Health is constructing five lots out of 19, representing 20 out of the 55 health posts and the sites include Dedza, Mzimba North, Ntchisi, Phalombe, Mwanza and Neno where progress is 85 percent.
With phase one of the National cancer Centre at 95 percent as the contractor has finished civil works, the facility is expected to be operational this year.
According to the PSIP, the project involves construction of four radiotherapy bunkers, two brachytherapy bunkers and other supporting services.
While government is currently procuring a consultant for a feasibility study for the construction of the Chikwawa District Hospital, overall construction of Mponela Community Hospital is at 40 percent.
The first phase, at 85 percent, includes an administration block, outpatient department, maternal and child health, X-Ray and mortuary while the second phase, at 55 percent, includes the theatre, male and female paediatric wards, maternity wing, nutrition block and kitchen laundry.
The third phase, which is yet to commence, includes construction of staff houses.
For Dowa and Rumphi district hospitals, the Environmental Affairs Department has provided terms of reference for environmental clearance and the Ministry of Health is currently recruiting a consultant for a feasibility study and detailed designs of the facilities.
Each of these projects has its own allocations in each phase of undertaking.
Health and Rights Programme executive director Maziko Matemba said in an interview during the week that these developments are good for the larger masses for them to be able to access health services where they reside.
He said such a development will also decongest central hospitals across Malawi in the midst of a growing population and disease patterns.
Matemba further said with the donor support towards the health sector declining, government needs to adopt health financing reforms and establish a health fund for Malawi.
In the 2025/26 National Budget, the health sector has been allocated K741.05 billion, up from K729.47 billion in the previous fiscal year. The allocation represents 9.2 percent of the K8 trillion financial blueprint for the years 20225 and 2026.
This allocation, however, falls way below the Abuja Declaration on Health which Malawi is a signatory to. It stipulates that African countries should allocate 15 percent of their total budget towards the health sector to improve healthcare access.
Ministry of Health was yet to respond to our questionnaire by press time at 5pm yesterday.
But Malawi Health Equity Network executive director George Jobe in a separate said the projects are important as they can help achieve two pillars of the health sector.
These pillars include access to healthcare by the public and quality.
