Chikwawa District Hospital referral services get a boost

Referral services at Chikwawa District Hospital have received a boost following the handover of a reconditioned ambulance to the health facility by auto-mobile dealers K Motors.

K Motors officials handed over the ambulance on Friday after reconditioning it, costing the firm K7 million. This is the second ambulance K Motors has reconditioned at the district hospital, in an initiative jointly done with musician Patience Namadingo. 

Speaking during the event, Chikwawa District director of health and social services Stalin Mzik

anda said the ambulance is critical in supporting the strained referral system in the district, which has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said: “The district has a population of 601 000 people and one ambulance is expected to cater for a population of 50 people.

“The terrain we have in the district is bad as it floods mostly during rainy season, which makes it difficult to reach other areas as we would wish.”

Mzikanda said the hospital has seven functional ambulances serving 28 health facilities in the district.

“This support will help us as a referral system, but also it is a support that is coming in without any attachments or conditions,” he said.

In his remarks, K Motors chief executive officer Mansoor Karim said they were happy to help the health sector deal with transport challenges.

He said: “If you go to any hospital, you find three or four ambulances which are broken down.

“Sometimes it is because of minor problems and at times the problems are big requiring a full maintenance to be done. This is part of our corporate social responsibility and we believe and pray that more lives will be saved.”

Karim said the next beneficiary of the initiative is Mwanza District Hospital, whose two ambulances are being worked on at their workshop in Blantyre.

Namdingo and his fellow artist rapper Tay Grin were also present during the handover ceremony.