Water, Sanitation and Hygiene services which WaterAid Malawi is implementing with funding from Wimbledon Foundation in United Kingdom has reduced home deliveries cases.
Authorities at Khuwi, Kangolwa and Mkhuzi health care facilities (HCFs) in Ntchisi district told journalists who are on week long media Tour that cases of children born in their homes have been reduced due to high standards of hygiene interventions in their respective facilities.
Watcoll Kamphonje who is Senior Group Village Head Khuwi in the jurisdiction of traditional authority Kalumo and GVH Thundu of T/A Kasakula confirmed in separate interviews that before the project most people had the myth and misconceptions on placentas waste management.
As such SGVH Khuwi says women are encouraged with modern construction of incinerator through WaterAid Project.
Khuwi Health Center Management Committee (HCMC) Chair Difat Sekani concur with SGVH Khuwi saying people had wrong myth and misconceptions surrounding their placentas on cultural beliefs hence they have been shun to deliver their babies in health facilities.
Sekani says before the project most women felt unsafe to deliver their babies in hospitals because they were not too sure regarding the discard of their placentas.
“With the coming of WaterAid in the area, the facility provides quality care and babies are now born in clean and safe environment.
“The project has constructed a modern ash pit and incinerator where the placentas are being dumped once a day in a very long depth pit and burnt,” says Sekani.
Khuwi HCF Incharge, Joy Ngulube says on average after the project they usually have 50 deliveries in a month unlike previous.
She said the project has also brought safe conducive working environment because amongst others WASH project upgraded water system through provision of solar system which pump about 10,000 litres of water.
Ngulube says plumbing works in the wards, construction of waste management facilities such as waste bins and ash pit, supply of infection prevention and control (IPC) and WASH facilities such as buckets including capacity building of health care workers and the committees.
At Kangolwa HCF which serves 22,933 population catchment area including T/A Mwadzama and Mwansambo in Nkhotakota, Incharge of the facility Sestino Kankulukuta Archangelo said the project has also rehabilitated the sewerage system including construction of women bathrooms.
Lack of WASH in HCFs, including handwashing amenities with soap, is one of the biggest challenges to quality of care in the least developing countries such as Malawi and the Wimbledon funded project has significantly brought huge impact on the rural hard to reach communities like in Ntchisi district.
