Nsanje wants floods relief for health workers

Nsanje District Hospital has appealed to institutions to consider providing health workers with floods relief assistance as they were also affected.

A representative of Nsanje district medical officer, Jekiyala Kalonga made the appeal at the district hospital on Saturday when Pharmaceutical Society of Malawi (Phasom) distributed relief items to health workers from various health centres in the district.

 “Whenever institutions come here to assist flood victims, they ignore health workers who were also affected. We have health centres like Makhanga, Mbenje, Ndamera and Tengani whose workers were heavily affected. They also need assistance,” he said.

Kalonga said health workers provide critical services to the public, as such, they need peace of mind to effectively discharge their duties.

He thanked Phasom for the donation, which included maize flour, cooking oil and clothes, saying it will reduce the workers’ suffering.

Funny Chilenje, wife to Lucius Gama who is in charge of Makhanga Health Centre, said they lost almost everything, including over 80 bags of maize.

“We were asleep on January 24 when we heard a call to evacuate houses due to floods. When we woke up, we were already in water and we had to run for our lives, leaving everything behind, including clothes and kitchenware,” she said.

Chilenje described the donation as a relief to them as they “try to recover from the disaster”.

Phasom secretary general Jeremiah Kabaghe said the organisation was concerned with the suffering of the people, hence, the K3.5 million donation.

He said: “We also decided to consider health workers because they were equally affected. Some lost everything which affected them physically and psychologically.

“The donation has helped to reduce their suffering.”

Phasom also distributed relief items at Khope Camp in Traditional Authority (T/A)  Mbenje in the district and to health workers in Chikwawa.

Speaking at the camp, Kabaghe told the displaced people that Phasom understands their suffering, inconveniences and suffering.