Lusaka clinic launches services for host community
The clinic at Makeni Transit Centre in Lusaka, Zambia has been supporting refugees and asylum seekers since it was established five years ago. But starting this September, the facility, which is run by AAH Zambia, has started offering services to Zambian nationals as well. A capable staff of three led by Nurse Sibango, the in-charge is bringing medical care closer to those with the greatest need.
Lilian Mweene, 35, says the clinic is a walking distance from her house. “I don’t have to travel far to get treatment for my children. The services are very good and affordable,” says Mweene, a mother of four. She says there are sufficient drugs at the facility. On this particular day she is accompanied by two of her children, who are also unwell.
Priscilla Pepala, a registry clerk, says in September they served 142 non-Zambians and 76 Zambians. According to the nurse in charge at the clinic Beanty Sibango, the most common ailments she deals with at the facility are malaria and respiratory infections. “The increased respiratory infection cases are as a result of a lot of dust, due to the dry weather we are currently experiencing in Zambia. But thankfully we have enough medicines for our patients,” says Sibango.
In 2014, 2,150 patients were seen at the Clinic which is supported under the community services sector of the Urban Refugee Programme. AAH Zambia has been running the programme since 2011 with funding from UNCHR.