Increasing population, high fertility rate devpt. challenges for Malawi
Written by MALAWI NEWS AGENCY
BLANTYRE--Increasing population and high fertility rate remain development challenges for Malawi and as such the country needs to move its successes to scale in order to address these challenges.
Pres Joyce Banda made the remarks Wednesday at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe after the Presidential consultation on Initiative on Maternal Health and Safe Motherhood.
The Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health, lead by Mary Robinson, is in the country on reproductive health and safe motherhood engagements.
Currently, Malawi’s fertility rate stands at 5.7 births per woman.
Banda said Malawi needs to do more in rolling out family planning services in order to reach out to as many people as possible with such services.
“Increasing population and the considerably high fertility rate remains a development challenge and this morning’s discussions have shown that we must do more to make family planning a critical pillar of our maternal health programmes.
That must begin with our commitment to reaching out to women that would want to plan their families but do not have means to do so,” she said.
She said despite the country facing such a challenge, it is pleasing to note that Malawi’s health indicators are largely getting better as shown by the decline in maternal mortality and under five mortality rates and an increase in contraceptive rate.
“We have increased our contraceptive rate to 42 per cent, we are a model country that is implementing an innovation nationwide programme of elimination of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV with interventions like Option B plus,” Banda said.
Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health President, Dr. Mary Robinson, said she was impressed with what Malawi is doing in reproductive health and safe motherhood which she said has lead the country to reduce its maternal mortality rates.
It is expected that the team will on Thursday go on a learning visit to Senior Chief Kwataine in Ntcheu to interact with communities and appreciate the role communities are playing in advocating for safe motherhood.
Among other issues, the consultation meeting touched on the need to increase work on changing cultural and traditional practices that hinder behavior change in HIV and AIDS prevention, male involvement in safe motherhood, the need to scale up provision of infrastructure in the health sector and paying attention to girls secondary education as a strategy that can mitigate against early marriages and pregnancies.
Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health is a consortium of sixteen former heads of state, policy makers and other national leaders who advocate for expanded access to reproductive health as a breakthrough strategy for lasting development and prosperity worldwide.
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(c) The Maravi Post 2013
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Pres Joyce Banda reaffirms commitment to promoting safe motherhood
Written by MALAWI NEWS AGENCY
MANGOCHI--Pres Joyce Banda has reaffirmed her commitment to the promotion of safe motherhood in a bid to protect pregnant women and promote maternal health in the country.
She spoke at Chembe community ground in the area of traditional authority Nankumba in Mangochi after laying a foundation stone for the construction of a maternity clinic at Cape Maclear in the district.
“My government is committed to ensuring that most facilities that are far away from referral centres should at least have a maternity clinic to promote safe delivery in our communities,” Banda said.
She said infrastructure development is important in the health sector because it increases accessibility of health services to people especially those in rural areas.
Banda said government is in the forefront to ensuring that most of the remote health facilities have maternity services.
“Women of child bearing age have suffered for so long in getting access to antenatal services. This trend has to be reversed. Deaths of women due to pregnancy related complications, is both avoidable and unnecessary,” she said.
The Malawi leader expressed optimism at the decreasing figures of mothers who die of pregnancy related complications, quoting the Malawi 2010 Demographic and Health Survey which indicates that the maternal mortality rate has dwindled from 984 per 100,000 live births in 2004 to 675 per 100,000 live births in 2010.
She emphasized that it is her personal intention to bring maternity services closer to the community through community midwives and making available proper infrastructure.
She observed that there is higher opportunity for women to contribute to national development not only for their own health, but also for their children if they are given programmes attracting them to access care and quality services.
“The availability of maternity services and proper infrastructure form a significant package that would motivate women to come earlier and be delivered by a skilled attendant,” the President said.
Banda thanked Billy Riordan Clinic which is adjacent to the maternity clinic project and Owners of Lodges at Cape Maclear for joining hands to fund the construction of the facility.
The clinic which will be complete with three staff houses will be constructed with funds from Owners of Lodges and Mota Engil.
Deputy Minister of Health, Halima Daudi, said government realizes the challenges which women face from pregnancy to delivery, pointing out that one such challenge is the availability of necessary services during antenatal and delivery periods.
“Much as many women try to get to the facilities for delivery, it is well known that most of them find it difficult to walk long distances when delivery is imminent or labour has started,” Daudi said.
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(c) The Maravi Post 2013
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Malawi urges expectant women to seek professional services
Written by CHADUWA DHUMAKUDE
MZUZU—Expectant mothers need to seek professional medical services, says Martha Kachali, wife to Malawi Vice Pres Khumbo Kachali.
Dealing with febrile convulsions in kids
Written by APOLLO HOSPITALS & ASIAMED CONNECT
‘Febrile convulsions’ is a fit or seizure that occurs when there is a sudden change in your child's body temperature, usually associated with a fever (temperature above 38°C). A high temperature is a sign of infection somewhere in the body and is often caused by a virus or bacteria but a high fever does not necessarily mean your child has a serious illness.
Ngoni chiefs rise to the challenge, accept male circumcision in Malawi AIDS fight
Written by MALAWI NEWS AGENCY
MZUZU--Inkosi Mtwalo of Mzimba says although Ngoni men of Mzimba don’t undergo circumcision, he would inform 
his subjects of the need to undergo the procedure to reduce the risk of contracting HIV.