Synod launches K300m lakeshore health initiative
The CCAP Synod of Livingstonia has unveiled a K300 million intervention to improve the health status of nearly 50 000 people in Karonga, Rumphi and Nkhata Bay districts.
The Nyanja Project, spearheaded by the synod’s health programme, targets communities on the shorelines of Lake Malawi where women and children are at risk of dying of treatable conditions due to long distances to health facilities with inadequate health personnel and lack of medical supplies.
women and children
Speaking at a meeting in Rumphi on Wednesday, David Gordon Memorial Hospital principal administrator Owen Mwale said the project aims at reducing deaths of women and children by equipping seven Christian Health Association of Malawi (Cham) health facilities with three ambulances, essential drugs, health workforce training and vital equipment.
“The synod has observed that most health facilities in the lakeshore region have poor and unreliable transport systems, infrastructures, and severe shortage of human resources,’’ he said.
The three-year intervention includes renovation of health centres and staff houses at Luwuchi, Tchalo, Mlowe and Zunga in Rumphi.
Other targeted facilities include Chilambwe Health Centre in Nkhata Bay and St Anne’s in Karonga.
The synod will run the initiative in partnership with David Gordon Memorial Hospital atop Livingstonia Plateau and the State-run Karonga District Hospital with funding from EMMS International (UK).
Karonga District Council monitoring and evaluation officer Isaac Mkandawire thanked the synod for the initiative, asking them to extend to some public health facilities to minimise challenges. n
