Story by Tichaona Kurewa
THE church continues to partner government in health provision around the country, with the latest being the setting up of the Siachilaba Adventist Health Centre in Binga District by the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
The Second Republic has identified access to health services as key to improving the standards of living of the general populace.
It is in this spirit that the Seventh Day Adventist Church is complementing government efforts in health provision by setting up the Siachilaba Adventist Health Centre in Binga District.
The centre consists of male and female wards, a pharmacy, an antenatal ward, a sluice room, a waiting area, a duty room, a consultation room and a treatment room.
The community is appreciative of the development in their area.
One of the community members said, “We are happy because of this clinic, when it opens, it is going to assist us a lot, we will no longer be walking about 15 kilometres to Siansundu to access health services.”
“For us women, the health facility will reduce our burden of walking long distances when pregnant and even sick and vaccination programmes will be nearby reducing chances of skipping such problems. We thank the church for this initiative, it will be key in serving this community, we also have a secondary school and primary school nearby which need health services as well,” said another community member.
The village head and the church added their voices to the importance of the health centre which is nearing completion.
Village Head, Mr Isaac Mwinde said, “This means we now have a healthy community as this will reduce home births and increase access to services such as HIV and AIDS and other awareness programmes. We are grateful to the church for assisting this community. This clinic will service about 86 villages, each with about 25 homesteads.”
“Government alone cannot provide adequate health facilities in the country hence as a church we are coming in to complement the good work government is doing in health provision. The country is targeting to have an upper-middle-class economy by 2030 and the provision of health services is one such measure and that is exactly what we are doing here. We will continue to work with the government not in Binga alone but in other areas as well. We hope to commission this centre in the first quarter of 2024,” Seventh Day Adventist Church, Health Ministries Director, Pastor Khumbulani Ncube said.
Other clinic projects being implemented in Binga District by the government through devolution funds include Zambezi, Sinamusanga, Kalungwizi and Binga Centre, while the Malaliya Clinic was recently commissioned.
