Thondwe, Malawi …Located in southeastern Malawi, the Namikango Maternity Clinic opened in 1975 in response to the need for maternal health care for a coverage area of over 51,721 people.
Today, the center helps deliver as many as 95 babies a month, and in 2011 provided maternal health care for 1,626 pregnant women. Symon J. Katete, the administrator for the clinic, reports concerning a recent shipment of drugs from the Malawi Project and World Emergency Relief, “The drugs greatly help us give health care to women and children, because we provide free services to the community in which we operate. These supplies help people who would not be able to get help anywhere else. The drugs would be very expensive and the poor would never be able to afford them. We were able to give them free because of this donation,” Katete explained.
The clinic is the only facility in the area specifically providing maternal and antenatal services. In view of the increased maternal death rates due to birth complications from women delivering in their villages, the government introduced the Service level agreements (SLA) with church facilities, so women could get free maternal care. This has proven successful and the death rate, due to complications, has been reduced.
However, Symon notes, “With the current crisis in health care supplies there is increased pressure on the clinic to provide necessary drugs and supplies.” He singled out the shortage of drugs and supplies nationwide as a major setback to these healthcare programs. “Even with us,” he notes, “the need for oxygen concentrators, and autoclaves are a must. Like so many others we are unable to access them due to the unavailability of spare parts anywhere in the country. It is this way with supplies everywhere. The shortage is causing people to die from lack of care.” By Wilson Isaac Tembo