"A blue, burgundy and white patterned wrapper hides the swell of Joanna Banda's belly. Eight months pregnant, she has had just three of the five antenatal appointments she should have had. She is unlikely to attend her final three either, as she still has to save 3,000 kwacha (1.28) for a bicycle to take her six miles on rutted dirt tracks to the nearest health centre when she goes into labour."
"Kafulatira, where Banda lives, is a village of scattered mud huts with almost 1,000 people in Salima district, east of the capital, Lilongwe. There is no piped water or electricity, and a bridge across the steep-banked river that divides it from the nearest health centre was washed away last December. Kafulatira was once regularly visited by a mobile clinic, but villagers now have to walk 11 miles to the nearest health centre."
Pregnant women in remote Malawian villages face rising barriers to care as a rural outreach programme was abruptly ended. A five-year, $28m Momentum Tikweze Umoyo programme aimed to reduce maternal and infant mortality across five districts and was scheduled to run until 2027. Funding suspensions and congressional aid cuts eliminated mobile clinics and outreach visits that previously provided antenatal services. Villages lack basic infrastructure: no piped water, electricity, and a washed-away bridge that separated communities from the nearest health centre. Women must walk long distances or save for transport, reducing attendance at essential antenatal appointments and increasing childbirth risks.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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