PREGNANT WOMEN DIE OR GIVE BIRTH ON WAY TO HOSPITAL-PALACE CHAIRMAN

By ROGERS KALERO PREGNANT women give birth or die on their way to Mpongwe Mission Hospital due to the long distance to that hospital, says Chieftainess Lesa's Palace Chairman, Fackson Chinamushi.

In an interview with the Daily Nation, Mr Chinamushi said because of the absence of a clinic in the area, people were dying on their way to Mpongwe Mission Hospital to seek medical services.

"The distance from Mpongwe to Chowa is 40 kilometers and because of the distance, you find pregnant women giving birth or dying on their way to the Mpongwe mission hospital. So government should hear our cries and construct a clinic in our area," said Mr Chinamushi

Mr Chinamushi urged government to construct a clinic in Chowa so that people could stop walking 40 kilometers to seek health services at Mpongwe Mission hospital.

He also appealed to government to work on the poor state of the road leading to Chowa and construct school and a police post in the area.

"This road has been there for a long time, but it is now in bad state and needs urgent reha-bilitation works. We have many farmers who de-pend on this road, but because the road is in bad state, they are finding it difficult to transport their produce.

"We are asking government to work on this road for ease transportation of both people, agri-cultural inputs and produce to and from the area," Mr Chinamushi said.

He also said the only school in Chowa catered for Grade seven pupils only adding that it was important that government constructed a school which would go up to Grade 12.