Health
Expansion of the maternity hospital in Likuni, Lilongwe
Active Africa has been collaborating with the LIKUNI hospital for years, supporting projects that have led to a great improvement in the quality of service.
The women in the hospital's area of influence have been gradually trusting in the services offered and have been able to appreciate the benefits of having a pregnancy and childbirth controlled by health personnel and in very dignified conditions. This very good news, which has reduced infant and maternal mortality during the delivery period, has led to a progressive increase in the number of admissions to this wing of the hospital. Currently, about 370 deliveries are attended per month and the facilities built in 2015 are clearly insufficient.
In order to care for all women in need of healthcare during childbirth, existing beds in the incubator area or in the baby nursery, areas that should be used only for children in order to prevent infections, are being used for immediate cesarean section patients and/or with postpartum complications, putting the health of mothers and children at risk. But, unfortunately, there are more shortcomings. There is no isolation area for patients who need it for epidemics (Covid 19) or puerperal sepsis.
There is also no ward to care for mothers in the last stages before delivery and no Intensive Care and/or High Surveillance units for mothers and children. Currently, many mothers who need special monitoring for underlying conditions are referred to Kamuzu Central Hospital, with the risk of death en route. The high rate of HIV infection makes it advisable to treat mothers and infants in such a situation in isolation and intensively.
To solve all these problems and provide optimal health facilities, the hospital management asked for our help to extend the maternity wing. The hospital infrastructure needs to be expanded to create areas to accommodate 32 new beds for regular post natal care, 3 beds in isolation area, 7 beds in High Dependency Unit area, 14 beds in High Risk Unit, 5 beds in Intensive Care Unit, 4 beds in private care wing and a new delivery area.
The works have been completed and the finishing touches are missing. We are currently looking for help for the purchase of furniture and equipment.
We would like to give our heartfelt thanks to Fundación Ordesa and Mango for making this project possible.
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Purchase of medicines for the Chezi dispensary , financed by the Farmasol Fundació Barceló program
For the second year, FUNDACION BARCELO has approved the purchase of medicines for the Chezi Dispensary, Malawi.
The action is especially important these years because the incidence of Covid-19 is added to the normal lack of medicine and material means. If in our countries it has already been a difficult challenge to face, in Malawi the difficulty is extreme.
The centers lack all kinds of means to fight the virus. Health personnel do not have protective materials and Hospitals do not have the basic instruments to deal with the Pandemic.
This is why the Sisters have appealed to us to be able to buy masks and medicines and thus provide a decent service to the people in the surroundings.
Along with this, we cannot forget the normal shortage of medicines to treat all the endemic diseases in the area.
With the donation you will get:
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Fight against the effects of Covid-19.
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Improve the health of those affected and also of their families.
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Protect Healthcare Personnel and their families.
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Reach a greater number of patients with any pathology.
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Reach those most in need who multiply in the current circumstances. The Sisters have agreed to give medicines to the entire population that comes to the Center. If they do not have enough money to pay for it, they will still be given it because they understand that it is an exceptional situation.
New ambulance for Barsaloi dispensary
We are happy to announce that the Mission of the Teresitas Sisters of Barsaloi now has a new ambulance to serve the people of the villages of this Samburu area.
Active Africa supported years ago the construction of the Maternity Hospital in the same village. From there many health actions are carried out such as vaccinations, urgent visits, deliveries, transfer of seriously ill people to the local hospital, etc. that require a strong vehicle suitable for the environment. The Samburu region is particularly arid, with impossible roads and very difficult driving. The villages are very isolated because the population lives mainly on livestock and they go from one place to another looking for water and food for the animals. The ambulance is a useful and necessary asset that saves many lives.
Thanks to the union of several donors, this is now a reality.
The union of Miva, Mango, Africa Digna and Active Africa has made it possible.
Support program for the AIDS patients of Kaggwa Parish:
Since 2006, our association collaborates in the maintenance of the special attention program for AIDS patients (Kaggwa Community Home Based Care) that takes place in the parish of Kaggwa, Lilongwe. The objectives of this program have been to improve the quality of life of AIDS patients group and their closest family , to stop to increase the number of AIDS patients through training and prevention and also, to achieve the patients social reintegration. The activities that are developed annually in order to support the AIDS patients groups are designed to take care of their health and nutrition and offer them the tools necessary to lead a dignified life.
Purchase of an Electric Generator and an Ambulance for Likuni Hospital.
Likuni Hospital was founded in 1940. Currently, the hospital serves 80,000 patients a year at the hospital itself and many others through its 11 mobile clinics.
Sister Lungu, its director, wants to ensure that those most in need have access to appropriate health care. She also wants to improve both the quality of care provided and the efficiency statistics of that care. During 2016, the reconstruction and equipping of the maternity ward was her priority, in order to increase control during pregnancy and childbirth, thus ensuring greater survival of the newborns.
However, the hospital still has significant shortcomings.
For one thing, Malawi suffers from a chronic power shortage. Power cuts are constant and long-lasting, which particularly affects certain areas of the hospital. As it is a very large facility, it is very difficult and expensive to install solar energy and there are areas of the facility that are not sustainable with this alternative energy.
On our last trip, Sister Lungu confirmed that the purchase of an electric generator to maintain the supply in the most vulnerable areas of the hospital (operating room and laboratory) was her top priority.
We set to work on it and after weighing different options, a project was presented and the most suitable generator was purchased.
On the other hand, for years we had been asking for help to buy an ambulance. This was a very urgent need since the one they had was very old. The repairs were constant, causing serious problems in the transport of the patients and also because of the continuous invoices for its repair.
It should be noted that the Hospital has a program of Mobile Clinics to provide health care to the population not only in the Hospital but also in all the surrounding villages. In Malawi people often do not go to the health centers because they are far from their homes and because they lack the necessary money for transportation.
With the ambulance, these villages are reached and the most seriously ill are transferred to the central hospital in Lilongwe when the occasion requires it. Finally, in mid-2019 it could be purchased and delivered to Likuni Hospital.
Thanks to Mango, the generator and the ambulance are now fully operational, helping the people of Malawi.
Zikomo Kwambiri, Thank you!
