Construction of maternity ward at Bezu Clinic starts

Plumtree Correspondent
THE construction of a maternity ward at Bezu Clinic in Bulilima District has started and the development is set to reduce the child mortality rate by providing effective health services to expecting women. The district has 15 health institutions and only five have a maternity wing.

In an interview, Bulilima Rural District Council chief executive officer Mr John Brown Ncube said the maternity ward was being constructed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the community.

“The clinic in Bezu was opened in June this year but it was operating without mothers’ shelter which made it an incomplete health facility as maternal services are crucial. Therefore a maternity ward is being constructed at the clinic.

“The UNDP is funding the project and the community is responsible for providing the manpower. The maternity ward is currently at window level stage and it will be completed soon,” he said.

Mr Ncube said every clinic that would be constructed would be expected to house a maternity ward before starting its operations.
“We have 15 clinics within the district and only five of these have a maternity wing which makes them incomplete health facilities. This is defeating our drive of beating MDG 4 which talks about reducing child mortality rates as more and more women deliver at home. We have therefore made it a requirement that all clinics which will be built must house a maternity wing. We have eight clinics that are currently under construction and they will only be opened once a maternity wing is built,” said Mr Ncube.

He said the completion of the eight clinics would help reduce distances travelled by patients to health institutions.
Mr Ncube said the district has 22 wards and only 15 wards have clinics which forces some villagers to travel more than 15 kilometres to access health care.

He said the clinic was still facing serious water challenges.
The staff at the clinic recently complained over their harsh working conditions as it does not have water.