Water, Sanitation and Health services (WASH) Project, which WaterAid Malawi is implementing with financial resources from Wimbledon in the United Kingdom, has been touted to be contributing to the improvement of healthcare service delivery at Khuwi Health Centre in Ntchisi.
Authorities at the facility made the sentiments in an interaction with journalists on a tour to appreciate the difference the project is making in the provision of healthcare services to remote communities.
During a visit at Khuwi Health Centre, journalists found that the project had enabled the facility to provide quality care in a safe and clean environment, something which was lacking before the coming in of the initiative.
Water Aid Malawi has been implementing various programs aimed at improving WASH services in public health facilities in the district.
Among them are elevation of solar water pump with a carrying capacity of over 10, 000 liters, improving sanitation by providing materials such as water buckets, which are around the facility and inserting of an ash pit as well as incinerator.
The organization has also improved a placenta pit into a modern one.
Khuwi Health Centre in-charge, Joy Nguluwe, commended WaterAid Malawi for its intervention, stressing it has helped them to work in a safe environment.
“We always have a program where by we as health works we work on shifts in facilitating different initiative lined up in this project concerning WASH, this is because we want people to have a behavior change in handling these issues as we always have health talks with people who came here in search of our services so that as they go they should be able to understand what is all about sanitation, in so doing we are changing the behavior slowly by slowly as we also protect ourselves as service deliveries,” she said.
Chairman for Health Centre Management Committee (HCMC), Difati Sekani, said lack of WASH facilities was one of the major concerns from both patients and communities surrounding the facility.
Senior Group Village Headman Khuwi said the interventions by WaterAid Malawi will promote health-seeking behaviours among his subjects.
The one week media tour is being funded by Wimbledon facilitated by Water Aid and it will proceed up to Friday 7th July, 2023.
