Association of Malawian Midwives (Amami) president Ann Phoya has urged the country’s healthcare providers to embark on civic education in rural areas that will teach people how to prevent coronavirus (Covid-19).
She said this on Saturday in Mangochi where she met nurses and other health workers to teach them vital information about Covid-19 and how they should respond to patients.
Phoya said the coronavirus may spread rapidly in rural areas due to people’s lack of knowledge on how to prevent it.
She said: “If we are to deal with this pandemic, the best way is to roll out massive sensitisation campaigns that promote hand washing and other preventive measures among the rural communities.”
The Amami president said the best place to deal with health threats is at the community level where we can find healthy people and not at the hospital where we receive patients.
“Let’s not wait for patients at the hospital. Instead, let’s take Covid-19 messages to the rural areas to save lives,” said Phoya.
To this end, she encouraged health workers to provide maximum care to patients whenever there is an outbreak, saying they are called to serve people.
During the visit, Amami also distributed hand washing facilities to the hospital to help improve hygiene.
On his part, Mangochi District medical officer Chimwemwe Thambo commended Amami for the items and for engaging health workers on the need to support the Covid-19 fight.
“Both the lessons and the materials are critical in the fight against the pandemic,” he said.
Items worth about K500 000 which included buckets and liquid soap were donated for distribution to Mangochi, Mchinji and Karonga districts.
As on Sunday, Malawi had four confirmed Covid-19 cases.
