.CHILUFYA

By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE –

PREGNANT women at Kilwa Island in Luapula Province are still being referred to health facilities in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in emergency cases.
Government has said it is working on modalities to curb the reference of cases to the DRC by introducing health facilities as close to citizens, as possible.
Kilwa rural health Centre situated at Kilwa Island in Luapula province refers emergency cases to the nearest hospital in DRC which is seven kilometres from Kilwa as compared to the 53 kilometres to get to a facility in Nchelenge.
Health Deputy Minister Chitalu Chilufya said it was Government’s policy to ensure that health services including those of maternity nature were taken to the people as closer as possible.
He was reacting to a complaint by Chief Nshimba of the Shila people of Luapula that women living on Kilwa Island were being forced to seek maternity services from the DRC because the clinic on the Island had no capacity to handle emergency cases.
Chief Nshimba told Dr Chilufya and his entourage when they paid a courtesy call at his palace that some women and children ended up dying on the way to DRC hospitals because of the transport challenges.
He said some of his subjects who seek medical services from DRC hospitals end up dying because they are unable to pay huge sums of money charged to them.
He appealed to Government to construct a maternity wing at Kilwa rural health centre and also provide more human resource.
Gladys Nshimba, the only nurse at the health centre said she had challenges in attending to patients because the population was too big for her.
Ms Nshimba, who is Chief Nshimba’s wife, said the island has been experiencing problems relating to maternity cases and ended up referring them to the nearby hospital in DRC.
“In short, all the emergencies we refer them to Congo because we have considered the distance from here to the mainland. It is shorter for them to go to DRC than Nchelenge,” Ms Nshimba said.
Ms Nshimba said some pregnant mothers ended up dying or losing their babies because of the distance as they sometimes spend more time looking for a boat to take them across.
She said that being the only nurse at the clinic, she attends to more than 70 patients per day and she has no off-days.
Dr Chilufya said Government would take into consideration the challenges faced by the people of Kilwa and Chisenga Islands.
He said an annex maternity wing would be constructed at Kilwa rural health centers to end the reference of cases to DRC.
Dr Chilufya said it was for this reason that he has directed his officers in the ministry to continuously visit places including the Islands to see how resources can be distributed equally.
He said Government would buy boat ambulances for the Islands to be used for emergencies.
Currently, it takes about eight hours for someone to move on an ordinary boat from the Island to the nearest Saint Paul’s mission hospital in Nchelenge.