MP takes reproductive health to constituency

 Salima North West legislator Enock Phale (Malawi Congress Party) on Sunday took sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services to people in his area.

To attract people, the parliamentarian organised different sporting activities at Mtanda Village in Traditional Authority Kalonga on the day.

From morning, young men, women and the elderly accessed family planning services.

Health workers also provided cervical cancer screening services and administered Covid-19 vaccination.

Phale said due to long distances, many people in his area find it difficult to go to nearest health centres in the constituency to access SRH services.

He said: “I decided to use sports and other activities to attract people and help them access SRH services.

“As a legislator, it saddens me to see girls dropping out of school due to teenage pregnancies that

 can be prevented if SRH services are available.”

Phale said through the open day event which attracted a lot of people, about 183 people accessed family planning services, 150 received their first Covid-19 jabs and about 10 women were screened for cervical cancer.

In a separate interview, Khombedza Health Centre nursing officer Victoria Chidzalo commended the exercise, saying it created more demand for SRH services.

“We need to train more health workers to scale up SRH access, especially to the youth,” she said.

Community members hailed their parliamentarian for the initiative, saying most women fail to access SRH services due to long distances to health centres

 One of the constituents, Maureen Lekeni, said the services came at the time when people were busy with farming activities and could not spare time to travel long distances to access SRH services.

“Most importantly, the outreach programme helped some people get Covid-19 jabs which will boost their immunity against the disease,” she said.