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Landirani Trust hands over K22m maternity to community

Ngoma cheering patients
Ngoma cheering patients

M’bang’ombe Rural Health Centre in Lilongwe wore the widest of smiles on Wednesday when Landirani Trust handed it a K22 million (about $55 000) newly-constructed maternity unit.

The health facility, whose operations started in 1990 as a private venture before government took over its management in 2002, falls under the impact area of some the charitable organisation’s projects.

Landirani Trust country manager Ida Mwangala, said in an interview that they initially budgeted the 10-bed structure at K14 million (about $35 000) with funds from the UK-based Project for Africa; citing the recent currency devaluation as key to the inflated figure

“We are not complaining. We actually saw the need and we felt we can do something about the situation. I mean, this is the community we work in and it wasn’t proper for us to be advancing the education agenda in children whose mothers were dying of preventable maternal situations; hence the unit,” she said.

Community health midwifery nurse at the health facility Annie Ntholoni said the new maternity unit will help reduce congestion in the old wing.

“There were times when we could discharge mothers just two days after giving birth simply because we wanted to accommodate others whose delivery is nigh. This was compromising the safe motherhood agenda,” she said.

However, while appreciating the gesture by Landirani Trust, Ntholoni mentioned that the facility requires an ambulance of its own to help solve mobility solutions in referral cases. M’bang’ombe lies about 40 kilometres from referral centres of Bwaila Hospital and Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe.

In her remarks, national coordinator for the Safe Motherhood Initiative Dorothy Ngoma hailed the Trust for the initiative; saying the gesture reiterates government’s call for concerted efforts in improving the country’s health service delivery.

She also donated assorted items to mothers who had just given birth and those who came for antenatal clinic.

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