Amref Health Africa has committed K60 million to support the restoration of health care facilities in Phalombe and Chikwawa districts, following the devastating effects of Cyclone Freddy, which hit southern part of Malawi.
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The funds have been provided by Amref Headquarters in Kenya and Amref Austria as part of a wider response initiative by Amref Health Africa, aimed at preventing deaths, serious illness, and infections by ensuring the continuous provision of access to essential healthcare to most vulnerable persons-women, children and young people affected by the cyclone in the districts of Phalombe and Chikwawa.
Speaking on Tuesday during the hand over of plumbing materials and medical supplies to Phalombe Health Centre, Country Director for Amref, Hester Mkwinda Nyasulu said it is worrisome that health facilities such as Phalombe and Nkhulambe health centres have been closed indefinitely because the structures were damaged by the cyclone.
“The current healthcare situation is worrying, and we are concerned about people who are having challenges to access healthcare services due to the cyclone. We are doing our best to support the Ministry of Health to continue providing essential healthcare services in these affected districts,” he said.
As Amref, so far, Nyasulu said, they have managed to raise K60 million which they are committing to go towards supporting rebuilding of damaged health facilities in Phalombe and Chikwawa.
Today, we are presenting these plumbing materials and medical supplies to Phalombe health centre to go towards the fixing the water system that has been broken due to the cyclone, he said.
Nyasulu further said their vision as Amref has always been that of creating lasting health change that’s why their support is focusing on restoring health care delivery to the communities.
In his remarks, Acting Director of Health and Social Services for Phalombe, Dr. Sam Sibakwe, described the support from Amref as timely.
He said Phalombe health centre serves a population of over 50,000 people and that on a daily basis they assist at least 400 people.
Dr. Sibakwe further said with the indefinite closure of the facility it means people are now travelling more than 20 kilometers to access health care at Phalombe District Hospital.
“This support from Amref has come at an opportune time. It will go a long way in rebuilding our health centre especially in restoring our water system which is completely damaged due to the cyclone,” he said.
Sibakwe said as a facility they still have a lot of areas that need fixing, like electricity, hospital equipment like beds and also the medicine and drugs that had all damaged.
He called upon other partners to emulate the example by Amref to assist in rebuilding this facility so that services resume as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Amref Health Africa has launched an Emergency Appeal seeking One million dollars to assist the households severely affected by the cyclone as well as rebuilding the damaged health facilities in the affected districts.
Through the appeal, Amref is looking to scale-up response on the health needs such as fixing broken water systems in the health facilities, supply of mosquito nets as well as other medical supplies for the families displaced in the camps.
The passage of Tropical Cyclone Freddy has displaced at least 564,239 people in southern Malawi, many of whom are sheltering in 577 camps.
The death toll was reported at 511 and the number of reported missing persons was at 533 as of 25th March according to the Department of Disaster Management Affairs.
