By Solister Mogha

Zomba, August 12, Mana: Head of Presidential Delivery Unit and Deputy Secretary to the Office of President and Cabinet (OPC), Dr Janet Banda has appealed for fast completion of Domasi Hospital in Zomba whose construction works started in 2013.

Speaking after touring the site on Friday, she said it was disheartening that 10 years after launching construction works; the facility wa still at 65 percent completion rate.

Dr Banda said was a bad sign of how developments should be implemented and that the delay has denied people of Zomba access to quality health care.

“Zomba is one of the congested cities and unfortunately, it has only one reliable hospital which is Zomba Central Hospital which by design is a referral facility.

“Domasi Hospital if completed would ease pressure on the Zomba Central Hospital while improve on provision of health services in the district,” Dr Banda noted.

The Head of the PDU said she would engage Secretary to the Treasury to make special provision that would see the facility completed and put to use.

“Our aim of coming to the hospital is to appreciate the progress and learn about bottlenecks that are making it hard to have the project completed and if possible find solutions.

“We understand that the main challenge was flow of financial resources for the project and from here, I would engaged relevant authorities and ensure we have enough funding and that works are done with speed,” Dr Banda said.

During the meeting, an agreement was reached that the project be done in phases and that come January next year, the facility should start operating at a small scale.

Secretary for Health, Dr Samson Mndolo said it was the wish of the Ministry of Health to have the facility completed.

He said at the moment, the Zomba Central Hospital was overwhelmed with cases that could have been handled by the district hospital.

“Central hospitals are supposed to attend to specialized cases, but as it with Zomba Central, every other case is handled by these specialized medical personnel thus shifting their attention.

“Completion of Zomba Central Hospital would definitely improve provision of health care and reduce maternal death which is high in the district,” Dr Mndolo said.

Since 2013, the maternity ward, female and women general wards, 10 staff houses, laboratory among others have been completed.

Mana/ssm/mmm/tha