Pregnant mothers in Senior Chief Mwakaboko in Karonga District are travelling 20 kilometres (km) to Iponga following the closure of Ngana Health Centre two months ago due to poor hygiene.

In an interview on Saturday, Ngana-Mwandambo Village Development Committee chairperson Costar Kamwela said the health centre was closed by healthcare workers after noticing poor hygiene conditions at the facility.

“The closure has affected pregnant mothers who now travel 20km to Iponga Health Centre for antenatal services,” he said.

Kamwela said health workers at the facility downed their tools two months ago, citing poor sanitation and hygiene.

Ngana Health Centre closed for two months now

“The facility’s attendant went to Lilongwe for further studies and there was nobody to clean the place. This prompted health workers to down their tools, arguing that sanitation and hygiene were compromised,” he said.

Sellina Mbukwa, a community member, said when they endure the 20km to Iponga Health Centre, they are told to proceed to Karonga District Hospital, because there is a health centre at Ngana.

Karonga district director of health and social services David Sibale said the facility was facing two challenges that necessitated its closure.

He said: “At first, there was a water problem which we sorted out and later its attendant left. We failed to deploy another attendant because the road is impassable.

“Instead, we made local arrangements to ensure that a community member covers the gap, which did not please healthcare workers.”

Sibale said they will send another attendant as soon the roads become passable.

In a separate interview on Saturday, Malawi Health Equity Network executive director George Jobe described the situation as sad.

“The development is unfair to vulnerable patients. Healthcare workers should exhaust all remedial measures before closing health facilities,” he said

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