By Gerald Sibu
Group Village Headman Nankhombe has commended Comfort Clinics, which operate under Health and Sanitation, one of the pillars of Andiamo Youth Cooperative Trust (AYCT) for their commitment in improving health services in the district of Balaka.
The newly built Comfort Community Hospital
Speaking during the interview with Andiamo Website Office, the chief thanked the cooperative for also building a new state of art community hospital in his village, which will enable his subjects and people from surrounding villages to access quality health services from the hospital.
Comfort maternity wing: playing a leading role in fighting maternal mortality
“Since the maternity wing was built, we have seen that maternal deaths have been reduced as pregnant women are delivering their babies at the hospital instead of delivering at traditional birth attendants. Now with the construction of a community hospital, we are really honoured and I hope it will save many lives,” he says.
According to the Clinic Director of Comfort Clinics Emmanuel Mwale, the maternity wing accommodates 16 pregnant women, a paediatric ward will accommodate 18 children and the community hospital has been designed to accommodate 36 patients.
Mwale disclosed that all the wards are fully furnished with beds and all necessities and Andiamo workers are now working on few attachments while waiting for Medical Council of Malawi to inspect the premise before the official opening but he did not disclose when it will be opened.
AYCT built Comfort maternity wing in 2008 with the aim of reducing deaths of children. Due to the congestion at paediatric ward at Balaka district hospital, Comfort Clinics management decided to use two of its rooms as paediatric ward before a special ward was built in 2011. The maternity wing has 13 staff four of them are clinical officers and 9 are nurses.
Both paediatric and community hospital have been built with financial support from Project Malawi.