We’ll continue supporting safe motherhood—NPL
Nation Publications Limited (NPL) chief executive officer Mbumba Banda says her company will continue promoting safe motherhood in the country through an annual fundraiser that donates modern equipment and supplies to needy district hospitals.
“We will run, we will walk, we will crawl… But we will be in Mzimba to support the mothers,” Banda declared in Lilongwe, before NPL hosts this year’s Mother’s Fun Run in Mzimba tomorrow.
NPL will be hosting the Mother’s Day Fun Run for the 11th year. Each year, the funds raised are used for purchasing equipment and supplies needed by a district hospital.
Banda saluted business partners, stakeholders and individuals for continuing to give the NPL Mother’s Fun Run overwhelming support, explaining that the targeted Mzimba District Hospital will receive equipment and supplies worth over K60 million, the largest donation to a district referral facility.
She hoped the donation to Mzimba District Hospital will greatly promote safe motherhood at the hospital, where 19 babies and two mothers die every month of maternity-related complications.
Saturday’s Fun Run events in Mzimba will see a group of sponsored runners tackling a 20-kilometre heat. Some parliamentarians, chief executive officers and volunteers will walk part of that distance, while the old and the physically challenged people will take it easy in covering their distances.
Banda noted that while most of the items on the Mzimba District Hospital’s wish list have been acquired, only a maternity theatre bed was yet to be secured. “That need is still outstanding,” she stated, appealing to well-wishers to provide the prized item.
She expressed joy that over the past decade, there is abundant proof that the Mother’s Fun Run donations have not only saved patients’ lives but have also inspired the health personnel to work hard and professionally.
“What we have seen of the staff in the hospitals is a passion to really do something and make a difference and to use the equipment to ease their jobs and to save lives,” Banda said.
NPL’s Mother’s Fun Run coordinator Albert Banda said by yesterday the event is bound to become a resounding success, with most of the logistics already in place. n
