The Chithumba Under-5 Clinic improves access to essential maternal and child healthcare services, providing families with safe, reliable healthcare closer to home, reducing the need for long and costly journeys to distant health facilities.
Access to healthcare remains a major challenge for many communities in Malawi’s Lower Shire Valley, where families and pregnant women, often travel long distances to reach medical care. Working with local leaders to identify community priorities, and with Agricane constructing the facility, the Chithumba Under-5 Clinic provides a dedicated healthcare facility for mothers, infants, and young children, improving access to preventative and primary healthcare services while helping reduce pressure on larger health centres.
The clinic delivers a range of essential services including antenatal and postnatal care, neonatal and under-five health services, immunisation programmes, HIV testing and counselling, family planning, nutrition monitoring, and health education. By bringing these services closer to the community, the facility helps improve maternal and child health outcomes while encouraging greater participation in family healthcare, including increased involvement of fathers accompanying their partners to appointments.