Dombole Clinic to open September

by Watipaso Mzungu Jnr

Expectant mothers in the area of Traditional Authority (Bvumbwe) Kapichi will soon have a reduced burden of walking long distances to access antenatal and neonatal services once construction of Dombole Health Centre Wing is finished.

Member of Parliament (MP) for the area Kingsley Namakhwa told The Sunday Times this week that the clinic will be ready for opening in September this year.

“Everything is ready apart from a few final touches on the health centre. Donations towards equipment to the centre are ready; we’re just waiting for the official handover day,” said Namakhwa who further stated that the delay to open the clinic was necessitated by his busy schedules.

The Ministry of Health is expected to run the centre, which will have a maternity wing, HIV Testing and Counseling (HTC) centre, outpatient department (OPD), among other services.

Dombole Heealth Centre is the brainchild of Namakhwa, who is also Deputy Minister of Information and Civic Education, and he started building it prior to the 2009 General Elections.

People have welcomed the development in an interview saying the health centre will ease the pain pregnant women have to endure in search of quality healthcare.

“The opening of the clinic will surely make a significant improvement in the lives of women as well as all of us. We’ll no longer need to travel long distances to access medical care when we’re sick,” said Francis Jonas from the area.

Namakhwa has since dismissed fears that the clinic may be politicized saying it is the Ministry of Health that will run the affairs of the centre.

“My role in the affairs of the clinic will finish the day we’ll hand it over to the Ministry of Health. Everybody will be free to access services from there,” he said.