Health Officials Laud WaterAid Hygiene Efforts
WaterAid itself has pledged to provide 75 healthcare centres with WASH amenities countrywide.
Ntchisi, Malawi — Authorities at Nthondo Health Centre in Ntchisi district have commended WaterAid for advancing hygiene at their facility through Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) amenities, writes Moses Nyirenda.
The WASH facilities include toilets, solar-powered piped water and an incinerator.
Hilikia Kaweche, the health centre management committee chairperson, said Tuesday that hygiene has markedly improved, thanks to WaterAid’s WASH additions.
“WaterAid has helped us immensely. Everything concerning hygiene is now far better than before,” Kaweche said.
“We currently have very good toilets and potable water and are deeply grateful to WaterAid.”
Kaweche outlined how before WaterAid's involvement, the toilets were in poor condition, causing challenges.
“Some people just went to the nearby bush to relieve themselves, bored of the dilapidated loos,” he said.
Consequently, Kaweche noted, more cholera and diarrhoea cases occurred.
Felia Kambewa, a nurse midwife technician, added that previously, maternity ward women struggled to find clean water post-birth.
“Now the solar-powered piped water system solves that,” she said.
WaterAid's Laston Zungu explained they are on a three-year drive to increase improved WASH coverage nationwide via the "150 Health Facility Challenge," rallying stakeholders.
WaterAid itself has pledged to provide 75 healthcare centres with WASH amenities countrywide.
In Ntchisi district, the goal is to equip 15 centres.
"We've already managed 11 with Giorgio Armani Beauty and Fragrances funding," Zungu said.