By Lovemore Khomo
President for the Rotary Club of Lilongwe City Center Tisayiwe Sikwese has underscored the need to raise awareness of significance of supporting public health facilities in the country.
Sikwese was speaking during a donation of assorted drugs to Area 18 Health Centre on Friday, 28th July 2023 in Lilongwe.
The donation has come in Maternal and Child Health month of the Rotary calendar.
Sikwese said the club made a visit to the facility in order to appreciate what is currently happening and understand areas that may require support in the near future.
“We came and try to asses the needs of the health facility and make a donation of a few drugs. Kind of drugs donated are pain killers and antibiotics worth K500 000.” said Sikwese.
Moving forward, the Club President has promised that the club will do more on Maternal and Child Health sector as one way to create hope for mothers and children in the country.
“We will be doing more with Health Centres because sometimes they don’t get a lot of support. Following our visit today, we have noticed a number of problems that needs support and will make things better through donations in the near future.” explained Sikwese.
Meanwhile, Senior Nurse and Midwife for Area 18 Health Centre, Francis Kachapira said as a government facility have always been handicapped as they lack a lot of things like medications for everyday operations.
Kachapira has expressed concern that sometimes they do send back home patients without providing them with treatments of drugs because of scarcity.
“Sometimes, we do send them to Bwaila Hospital which is costly because of the distance. Scarcity of drugs is one of the major challenges this hospital faces.” said Kachapira.
The Midwife Nurse pointed at shortages of staff as another big challenge since the facility has seven departments that needs to be covered on everyday basis, but his team is forced to multi-task to carry out other duties.
He therefore thanked the Rotary Club of Lilongwe City Center for the timely donation of drugs and will really help cushion the shortfall.
On average, Area 18 Health Centre treats and accommodates over 300 patients per day.
The Rotary Club of Lilongwe City Center was chartered in 2021 and has 30 members and expect numbers to grow following an induction for new members soon.
