At the Chinsinga Village in the Balaka District of Malawi, there is no local healthcare facility.
The closest available government run facility in Balaka (Malawi) is across a crocodile infested river, but often does not have adequate medication stock to maintain consistent services, and the next nearby clinic is one day’s travel away. In collaboration with the Balaka District Health Office and two local partners, a mobile outreach clinic was held at the village in order to deliver essential healthcare services to the underserved community, with partner organisations providing critical support in pharmacy logistics and drug management.
Key goals:
- Provide free primary healthcare services to the underserved population of Chinsinga Village
- Offer treatment for common illnesses and deliver health education to the local community
- Strengthen local partnerships with the Balaka District Health Office to improve healthcare delivery in rural areas
- Address the issue of limited healthcare access by reducing the need for a minimum 3-hour walk to the nearest facility
Across two days in October, the outreach clinic served a total of 175 patients from the ages of 1 to 80+ with a particularly high turnout of female patients (~69%) due to the strong demand for maternal health and reproductive services. In addition to general outpatient consultations for various illnesses, diagnosis and treatment of common conditions such as malaria, respiratory, infections and gastrointestinal diseases was undertaken. Patients required further treatment were referred to Balaka District Hospital for follow-ups and anyone requiring medication was provided with the necessary prescription and treatment.
Speaking to the local community, our Project Support Officer heard from the village head, who shared his gratitude for the mobile clinic as it allowed him to receive treatment locally and was a much more comfortable experience for him. Due to his leg and body pains, crossing the river to reach the next facility was often painful and always very inaccessible for him. Similarly, Jean (pictured) shared her frustration with the healthcare access issues she faced and her happiness at experiencing the services of the mobile clinic, saying:
‘The nearest facility we rely on is only reached by crossing the river to get to it, and it would take 2h+ to walk there. During rainy season the rivers swell up and there are even crocodiles. If we do go to the clinic across the river, there is no guarantee of getting medicines because most of them run out and ask locals to go and buy them from a pharmacy.’
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