Nthanda Times

Day: March 1, 2024

  • Covid-19 patients urged to get pills for five days to get cured

    The Hidaya faith organization has urged people showing signs and symptoms of Covid 19 to go to hospital for test and receive covid 19 pills instantly once found positive.  

    The executive director for Hidaya faith organization Imran Malidadi was speaking this on Wednesday during awareness campaign on Test to Treat (T2T) at Malunga ground in the area of traditional authority Malemia in Zomba District

    Malidadi said people with 50 years and above or those below 50 years up to 12 years but they have chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension have access to get covid 19 pills instead of vaccine in the country.

    He said the organization with funding from Family Health International 360 (FHI) is conducting Test to Treat (T2T) project as a pilot phase in Zomba which will see older persons and those with chronic conditions have access to get covid 19 pills instead of vaccines. 

    “Test 2 Treat is a new strategy for Covid 19 care and the strategy encourages all individuals with signs and symptoms of Covid 19 to get tested within 5 days of symptoms onset”. “The medicine for Covid 19 is available and this medicine is different from vaccine because the Covid 19 patients take 3 pills in the morning and another 3 in the evening for 5 days then person is cured” said Malidadi.

    According to Malidadi the medicines are for those 50 years and above or those below 50 years up to 12 years but they have chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension. 

    In her remarks Family Health International 360 (FHI) Social behavior change communication intern Ivy Mande said the campaign mainly focuses on encouraging people to go for covid 19 test and if found they should receive the medication instantly. 

    Mande said the medication is not mandatory hence encouraged everyone to volunteer themselves to go for covid 19 test and receive medication instantly once found positive saying Covid 19 is not yet over but is still among the people in the country. 

    ” we are urging everyone take responsibility to civic educate each other on the importance of getting tested for Covid 19 and receive medication because as organization we are facing challenge of low turnout of people who come to get tested and receive medication in the hospitals” Mande added.

    Senior Group Village Headman Minama asked government to provide public doctors at St Luke’s hospital saying doctors at the hospital charges 1 thousand kwacha to see the patient of which people from the villages cannot afford ,situation which hamper villagers to have access of good health services and hinder the fight against Covid 19.

    Family Health International 360 (FHI) is funding the organizations which are conducting Test to Treat (T2T) project as a pilot phase in Zomba, Mangochi and Machinga.

  • LWB making strides in conserving tree cover

    Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) says it is making progress in its efforts to conserve tree cover along Lilongwe River, which happens to be its catchment area. 

    One of the board members at LWB, Lingalireni Mihowa, made these sentiments during a tree planting exercise which they had jointly with Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC) at Malingunde in Lilongwe. 

    Mihowa said as part of reducing water pollution which mostly affects their clients, they are working with communities around Kamuzu dam 1 and 2 in Malingunde in replanting trees so that they can preserve thier catchment area of Lilongwe river. 

    “We are doing many activities interms of working with schools and also community based organizations that are involved in briquette making as one way of taking them off the pressure that could have on the forest cover by cutting down the trees and we have been on this exercise over a year now and the reports that the board is getting is that many families are now complementing to our efforts as most of them are now using briquettes rather than charcoal,” Mihowa said. 

    On his part MHC board chairperson Reverend Jaleck Kachiwanda said as a key player in construction that also uses alot of trees in form of timber they thought it wise to partner in this exercise. 

    “We have put measures to make sure that we are monitoring these trees as traditional in Malawi we do plant trees but we fail to take care, so with water board we will make sure we do regular visits to see how many have survived and if there is no progress we are going to put some measures to make sure that we are safe guardian these trees,” he said. 

    Deputy minister of water and sanitation Liana Chapota watering a tree seedling she planted during the exercise at Malingunde

    Deputy minister of water and sanitation Liana Chapota said it is very commendable that Water Boards should be on the forefront in planting trees in order to cover their catchment areas for potable water at all times throughout the year. 

    “Their should be well collaborated efforts between boards and communities to make sure that when these trees have been planted they should survive because their is great relationship between trees and water resources as they give good vegetative cover and when we talk of water sustainablity we need to plant more trees to have good water resources,” Chapota said. 

    LWB is supporting 120 community nurseries with 400, 000 tree seedlings working together with schools as well as community based organization and during the exercise on this day they planted 6,300 tree seedlings.

  • First Lady calls on women to be prayer warriors

    First Lady Madame Monica Chakwera has called upon women in the country to continue playing a support system role for the country to move forward, saying women are a beacon of love and solutions to societal problems.

    Madame Chakwera was speaking at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre on Friday during the 2024 Women’s World Day of Prayer.

    She encouraged women to continue praying for the country and bring solutions to several challenges the country is facing.

    “The change that we need in our families or country requires prayer warriors as such women should avail themselves in every difficult situation. We have several problems that need prayers. Let us all be saviours in such situations,” she said.

    The First Lady said Malawi has gone through tough situations like natural disasters which need prayers for things to return normal.

    Madame Chakwera read scriptures from Ephesians 4 verses 1 to 7.

    Madame Monica Chakwera receives a gift from National Chairperson of Women World Day of Prayer, Esther Grant(c) Abel Ikiloni, Mana

    National Chairperson for Women’s World Day of Prayer, Esther Grant, advised women to continue exercising love and support in all situations as this is the only solution to deal with unforeseen circumstances.

    “You can also pray for those in Palestine who are dying every day and require support from well-wishers like us who are enjoying peace,” said Grant.

    In her sermon, Pastor Towera Masiku of Word Alive Ministries appealed to Malawians to love one another and learn to live in peace and harmony.

    Masiku encouraged women to support their husbands in all situations as they are support systems in society.

    “Always be humble, gentle, patient and tolerant with one another in love,” she said.

    Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, Jean Sendeza and Mama Cecilia Tamanda Kadzamira were among notable figures who graced the event.

    The prayers were inspired by choirs, worshiping, lighting of candles symbolising a bright future, love for the country and reading of scriptures among others.

    Women World Day of Prayer is an annual event held on the first Friday of March. This year the day was held under the theme: “I Beg you… Bear with One Another in Love.”

  • Coalition bemoans declining funding to ECD sector

    The Early Childhood Development Coalition of Malawi (ECD Coalition) has lamented the declining government contribution to the ECD sector, fearing the country risks missing the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.2 if the trend continues.

    SDG 4 calls upon governments to ensure greater investment in quality education and ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

    But speaking at an engagement with members of Parliament (MPs) at the Capital Hotel in Lilongwe on Friday, ECD Coalition national coordinator, Joylet Genda, observed that Malawi is not doing enough to provide education opportunities for all, citing the declining contribution to the ECD sector amidst phasing out of major budget contributors to the national budget.

    Genda: We need more investment in the ECD sector if Malawi is to achieve MW2063–Photo by Watipaso Mzungu

    “This has the effect of the government failing to meet the goal of providing quality ECD services, care and pre-primary education to all children by 2030, as required by SDG 4.2. We have also noted a lack of detailed information on personnel emoluments which makes budget monitoring and oversight difficult,” she said.

    The engagement meeting was facilitated by child rights-centred non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Malawi, which include Save the Children, SOS Children’s Villages Malawi, Plan International, World Vision, and NGO Child Rights Coalition.

    The purpose of the engagement was to provide parliamentarians with critical insights for commenting on the budget’s child-friendliness.

    Genda observed that, while investing in children is crucial to social economic development of the country, and achievement of Malawi 2063 (MW2063) development agenda, the Malawi Government has not done enough to grease the wheels so that the country achieves its goals.

    She proposed that the government should allocate at least 10 percent of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to support ECD initiatives in the communities, this will help in promoting access and quality to ECD services in the country.

    “We also recommend that the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare should fast track the consultations and presentation to parliament of the ECD Bill and enact it to support mandatory allocation of ECD resources and implementations of ECD programs within the country,” said Genda.

    In his remarks, Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Malawi, Ivo Hoefkens, whose organization is providing huge financial support towards child-centred programmes and interventions in Malawi, said engagements between civil society and legislators is critical, as it entrenches the spirit of budget ownership.

    Hoefkens added that such engagements help lawmakers to get appraised of the content of the budget.

    “I’ve listened to the presentations with a lot of attention. This is very interesting material, and I’m thankful to the experts who have done the analysis and picked out all the issues also in comparative perspective with what was budgeted in previous years. It will be I imagine a very difficult discussion with the parliamentarians and the civil society. But that is a Mullah Malawi in discussion. So I am learning a lot and I think having this event will be very productive,” he said.

    The EU Head of Delegation pledged that his organization will continue providing support to children programmes in Malawi.

    “We are quite strongly engaged. We have programs ongoing, the recent one last year is a new one. That was for which the financing decision was adopted 59 million euros, which exactly focuses on social protection, and on gender equality and inclusion. It combines the two aspects. Let’s say in a very novel approach, but also in the other sectors. We are quite engaged and we maintain our commitment to that we did recently our midterm review from our program, which runs from 21 to 27. So we are waiting for this conclusion, considering the hardship that Malawi is going through. We have to pay attention not only to economic recovery, but also to protecting the poor from the effects of the external service and the effects of the economic transformation that is aspired,” he assured.

    Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Social Welfare, Savel Kafwafwa, commended the NGOs for the budget analysis, which he said will help lawmakers better understand the needs of the people at the grassroots level.