By Monica Banda

Mchinji, February 15, Mana: The Malawi Health Equity Network (MHEN), has emphasised the importance of collaboration between Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs) and mother care groups for the success of the implementation of Immunization Strengthening project.

MHEN Executive Director, George Jobe, made the remarks in Mchinji on Wednesday during an engagement with HSAs aimed at strengthening sustainability of vaccination interventions.

Jobe said MHEN is working together with the Ministry of Health under the project that is promoting vaccination for children.

He said, as MHEN, their role is demand creation and community mobilization.

“We thought of bringing together all HSAs in order to cement the linkage between them and mother care groups and also assess how we have performed and how we should move forward in providing necessary support to mother care groups while at the same time prepare for further implementation of the project,” said Jobe.

District Health Officer for Mchinji, Yohane Mwale, expressed satisfaction with the project's progress and commended MHEN for its efforts.

Mwale cautioned HSAs against misappropriating bicycles designated for mother care groups, saying that such resources are meant to benefit the community.

“l would like to congratulate MHEN on the job well done and l would also want to give a last warning to HSAs who are taking bicycles meant for mother care groups to never do that again as the bicycles belongs to mother care groups not HSAs,” he said.

An HAS working with Kapanje Mother Care Group in Katchuka Village, Traditional Authority (TA) Simphasi, Tobiyasi Kachele, praised MHEN's contributions to community health.

“There is a significant increase in child vaccination rates since the project's inception. This is so due to enhanced awareness among mothers about the benefits of vaccination,” said Kachele.

The Healthy Systems in Immunisation Strengthen Project, funded by GAVI and the Government of Malawi, plays a crucial role in providing support such as refrigerators and capacity building for HSAs.

MHEN's primary focus within this initiative is to drive demand creation, advocacy, and community mobilization across all districts in Malawi.