ADDRESSING PUBLIC HEALTH
Lord Chidgey speaking with the locals in Malawi
these two deadly diseases has to be fully integrated if we are to have a chance at defeating them in our lifetime. My trip also included a visit to a
district hospital, a regional clinic and an outreach site – literally under a tree – to see how healthcare is being delivered at these three levels. Although underfunded and understaffed, the district hospital was well-run, and at the district clinic, I heard about the wide range of services provided in one location, from ante-natal programmes, to vaccine delivery and all types of blood tests. However what I found most memorable was the outreach clinic, with just a rural school building being used to vaccinate babies brought in from surrounding villages, with children being weighed and measured under a tree in the heart of the village, some eight miles down a dirt track. At the clinic, a range of basic
health services and monitoring takes place to protect and track the development of children. I watched babies being weighed
for signs of malnutrition from a scale hanging from the branches of a huge
tree. They were then measured to see if they were the right height for their age. All this while hundreds more were getting their jabs in the empty school building. I was pleased to see evidence
of recent involvement by charities Save the Children, and from UNICEF, for which I am a Parliamentary Ambassador, in buildings, equipment, and therapeutic food such as “Plumpy Nuts.”
The programmes for tracking
the weight of children are hugely important for the ongoing monitoring of development. Malawi has one of the highest rates of “stunting” anywhere in the world. A stunted child suffers from low height for age as a result of a severe and ongoing nutritionally deficient diet. Stunting is irreversible and can have lifelong negative effects on physical and mental development. Yet this is a challenge that countries are only becoming aware of, with the U.K. running its first nutrition specific programme in the country. I along with other Parliamentarians, including the former Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Lord David Steel, visited a site
52 | The Parliamentarian | 2014: Issue One
set up specifically to treat severe malnutrition in infants and to provide nutritional support to pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. Many of the projects in Malawi
are supported by aid from the U.K. Government, and the group met with the country representatives from the U.K. Department for International Development (DfID) to discuss the effectiveness of these taxpayer funded schemes. It was reassuring to see how dedicated the DfID team in Malawi are, working under such difficult circumstances. I also met Rt. Hon Ephraim
Chiume, MP, Minister of Foreign Affairs in Malawi, to discuss wider issues engaging the two countries. It was encouraging to see the
progress the country is making in tackling some of its most pressing health concerns. Moreover, it was a great
opportunity to see how U.K. aid money is reaching those people genuinely most in need, providing life-saving vaccines and delivering treatment for TB and malnutrition, all the way out to remote villages. It is paramount that Malawi
maintains support from the U.K.
“Malawi is on course to meet Millennium Development Goal 4 (to reduce child mortality by two thirds), and has made good progress on vital steps that are being taken to address tuberculosis.” (TB) and under- nutrition.”
while motivating and encouraging its government to do more for its people.
Strengthening the U.K’s relationship with Malawi in the context of public health Malawi’s economy is making a fragile recovery from a particularly difficult few years which have included significant problems in agriculture, a lack of foreign exchange reserves, fuel shortages, and a period of political change when the presidency changed hands. Despite these challenges,
progress in health is evident, especially in reducing child deaths. Malawi is on course to meet Millennium Development Goal 4 (to reduce child mortality by two thirds), and has made good progress on vital steps that are being taken to address tuberculosis (TB) and under-nutrition. In such a challenging environment,
the presence of the U.K. as a partner with the Malawian Government, and as its largest aid donor, is vital in ensuring it can manage these problems, and deliver essential health services to those most in need. This is precisely where U.K. aid should be concentrating, in the most challenging settings and where it can make the biggest difference.
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