Minister unveils revamped maternity ward
THE newly refurbished maternity wing at Lusaka’s George first level hospital will help to reduce mother and child mortality in the area.
Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya said the clinic would enable more women access maternity services as well as primary health care and therefore contribute to reducing mother and child mortality.
Speaking in Lusaka yesterday, when he handed over a newly refurbished maternity wing at George compound clinic, Dr Chilufya said the refurbishment, construction and re-equipment of the zonal facility valued at K 4.1 million was a milestone.
Dr Chilufya said the health facility had also increased bed capacity in labour ward from 3-6 bed capacity, ant-natal ward from 6-15 beds and post-natal from 6-to 10 which has already improved the birth deliveries.
He said the investment that government had put in the peripheral had seen reduction in cases referred to hospitals such the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) and Levy Mwanawasa General Hospital, including George first level hospital.
Dr Chilufya said the Japanese Government through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had supported the upgrade of Chilenje and Matero clinics to first level hospitals which is crucial in fighting maternal and child death.
He thanked the European Union for demonstrating for supporting infrastructure and human resource development which has benefited masses across the country.
Dr Chilufya urged the health personnel from George and Ngwerere clinics to match with the investment or infrastructure with attitude change, hard work to ensure that they passed on the benefits to the communities.
“All the facilities that are supposed to operate for 24 hours should not close except the health post, but for zonal facilities such a George clinic should operate fully and doctors must man our facility which is the best way of ensuring that we deliver best to the public.
And European Union head delegation to Zambia and COMESA Gianluca Azzoni was pleased that the Zambia Millennium Development Goal Initiative (MDGI) programme was a compressive multisectoral programme with interventions at health facility, district and community level.
Mr Azzoni said the new and refurbished maternal and child health wings would provide quality health care, particularly for mothers and children.