First Lady, Thandiwe Banda, has attributed the high number of women dying as a result of pregnancy and childbirth to lack of transport.
Mrs. Banda said only 48 percent of women deliver in health facilities while the majority in rural areas are attended by non-qualified personnel.
She said one woman die every four hours due to complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, a situation which she says needed to be resolved with urgency.
Mrs. Banda said that many of these cases of women dying in childbirth can be avoided if there is transport to ferry them to health centres.
The First Lady said this at State House today when ZamBike presented three Bicycle Ambulances worthy K8.4 Million, for community based Safe Motherhood Action Groups (SMAGS).
And speaking earlier, Zambike Marketing Manager, Chiteau Muyoya said that many women, who die from pregnancy and childbirth related complications, die as a result of walking long distances.
Ms. Muyoya said there is therefore need for transport facilities to be given to people in rural areas to help reduce the high number of women dying from pregnancy and childbirth related complications.
ZANIS.
Madame T. Things need to be resolved with urgency by your example….do something to ease these complications related to pregnancy and childbirth and not just talking about it…
Tell your husband to do improve health system in Zambia notjus run to South Africa for medical attention even for a small problem like a knee.That’s crazy
35% OF GHOST WORKERS ARE STILL ON PAY ROLL
Wonderful work madam. Continue working hard .
Sometimes or rather most times I just wonder, are humans just there to open their big ifinwa. Some things are straight forward and not straight backwards. Thandiwe sometimes speaks a sthought she is in the opposition, Ba Mankangala ba banda is almost always next to your legi, tell him or do not give him tweno until things improve shani kanshi
Why the bashing? She has merely made an important observation, which in her designation and potency as First Lady of the country, she is very much in order to address.
“Mrs. Banda said that many of these cases of women dying in childbirth can be avoided if there is transport to ferry them to health centres.”
Can this assertion be proved. What monitoring systems are in place to show that the Zambulance will contribute to reduced maternal deaths? What proportion of the current deaths are attributable to lack of transport (i.e e.g Zambulances)
After this observation the best way to resolve it is by donating bicycles with a wheelbarrow attached for pregnant women. just because they are in shanties they dont deserve better? This is pathetic!!Where has mrs rb been and seen women in labour been ferried on wheelbarrow/bikes. Please madam treat the cause of the disease and not the symptoms ie health care standards, working conditions for health workers, health education and funding for the health sector, dont jst yaba on. Ur husband niba presdo so u hav more power thn anyone to make it happen if it truly pains u as a woman to see other women suffer during child birth.
what an insult, that pregnant women are transported on wheelbarrows, ifibala and bicycles when money is being spent on shopping, holidays and presents for the already rich, i would never be proud of a nation where humans are disrespected to such extent where some give birth on the streets like dogs, even dogs look for a quite corner for some privacy… people go hungry for days, and depend on useless prayers for an unknown being to come a stop their misery!!!!
Where did our first lady get the figures from? I think there’s too much guess work in her speech. Let her also give us the per centage of ghost workers.
I personally see nothing wrong with those bike-powered “Zambulances” if they can serve their purpose well enough. After all, simple life calls for simple innovations. Since not everybody in Zambia has access to motor vehicles, a bicycle is a good alternative form of transportation.
What is Education Minister Dora Siliya doing about the ghost worker drawing a salary for about 2 years after retirement?
Also, what is Health Minister Simbao? doing about the “… only 48 percent of women deliver in health facilities while the majority in rural areas are attended by non-qualified personnel” and why hasn’t the Health Ministry spokesperson presented this information to the general public?
Let the MMD GRZ wings with a mandate to inform the Nation on these things do their job as opposed to letting a person who does not work under them to issue such statements. Otherwise, let the incompetent people resign so others do it.
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Matthew 6:33 + KJV Bible
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto…
chinshi bafwele ba first lady?
uko mobile clinics on the way, you can’t read between the lines. she is showing the mases which is better zambulance or mobile clinics?
These ambulances, will they have sirens too? Nomba ngabapona, what happens? I really don’t know how to call this, is it development or we are just retrogressing, or may be we are stagnant? You mean these MPs cannot take the money earmarked for their gratuity and probably buy few ambulances to help the suffering masses with real transport to hospitals? There are some ambulances with basic equipment, not sophisticated like the LA Fire Dept ones or the ones for London roads, but a bed and a defubarator (whatever you call it you guys in medical fields) and an extra seat for attendant. Because on this bike if something happens, kulibwena wemwine. Please let us find real solutions to our problems. I know desparate measure need desparate solutions, but they too must be workable.
How are those bikes going to be moving on the potholed roads, we are going to have women having miscarriages due to the bumpy ride, some will fall off the contraption. Also, how does the first lady come out to oversee the donation of 3 ‘Zambulances’? Thirdly, are they claiming that each of these contraptions costs $560?? Thandiwe it’s all very well and good giving us those stats, but can you tell us about the woman who WANTED to have her baby in a hospital and to be delivered by qualified personal yet was denied that because of striking nurses? Very useless, lazy, liars!
Bushe ni ba 1st lady? nachi mona kwati munensu Paul kagame
Not a long time ago we had zamcab but now we have zambulance it seems that our country will continue being run by jokers
what do you know about child and maternal health? you are contradicting your husband who had the post editor arrested for highlighting the plight of women in labour. infant and maternal mortality goes beyond lack of transport madam, i cant even begin to explain it to you for your simple mind to grasp. we need good hospitals, equipment, tained personel, specialists in obstetrics, ask your husband why he is not arresting Dr Miti for plundering MOH or just shut up!
#3 PORNSTAR. I do not agree with your observation. If 35% of Ghost workers are on payroll, does it mean 65% of the Ghost workers are not on Govt payroll? If they are not on payroll, are they still ghost workers. I believe your statement should have read like, “35% of Govt workers are ghost worker.” What do you say?
WHAT IS HAPENING AT STATE HOUSE? HE HUSBND AND WIFE HAVE DIFFERENT VIEWS ON THE PREVAILING DEPLOLABLE STATE OF AFFAIRS IN THE COUNTRY. WHILE THE WIFE IS SHOWING WISDOM AND ELOQUENT ANALYSIS, THE HUSBAND IS SHOWING FOLLY AND D.U.L.LN.ESS . I FEAR FOR THANDI THAT SOON THE MMD THUGS WILL DISEND UPON HER. I THINK THANDI HAS NOTICED THAT RB IS FULL OF EMPTINESS. I just hop she wil continue with the same spirit of telling the poor people the truth that MMD has failed. KEEP IT UP THANDI , HELP US CHASE THESE MMD-THIEVES.
THIS IS REALLY PATHETIC. You group a few pieces of metal here and there and put a mattress covered in lether on it and tie to a icycle and call it innovation and take it to state house and invite the entire press co to witness. Has the country sunk that low really. This is just an improvised ICHIBALA or as we used to call it in Lusaka-CHIGILIGILI. You guys are really embarrassing us. The poor deserve better than this nonsense ..you even have the audacity to call it ZAMBULANCE. You debasing the great name of our country. Please stop and take your mediocrity elsewhere. What is the point of taking someone ill in CHIGILIGILI and when they die you take them in a POSCHE MANDA MANDA?
#17 Ka Pork kwena uli shilu iwe! How can you compare Thandi to Paul Kagame? Ine pano ndeyamfulafye nenseko!
bushe kuti cawama ukumona banako pa nchinga ati now she going to deliver…that is a bit tough for a mother.
Zambians we like talking loudly but when it comes to finding solutions and ideas to the problems facing our own people , we run out of ideas and solutions. We like disparage and we are disingenuous to ourselves. Zambians living abroad or overseas, we have good jobs and salaries. We know how to organise events or fundraising functions. Why not organising fundraising to help our own people by donating just £5 each we can afford to buy new Ambulances and other medical items to save our own people. Zambian govt is not the solution but the problem to the solutions.Let us engage with Zambiablogtalkradio.com and organise something special to save oue own people with decence and humility. we are the solution and one life saved is good for humanity
manje ka dressing ba 1st lady….crazy colour.
bikeabulance? Lets get back to stone age as well.
#22 Chinondo, well spoken bululu.
Investing in liquid assets is not the solution madam RB. It is an expensive short term solution. What we need is human investment and more clinics and not necessarily transport. We just dont have a health policy as a Nation. Nearly all health programmes are dictated by donors. We dance to their tune. Mobile hospitals. Manda Mandas. And now the Indian way of survival the bicycle way. All these are not long lasting solutions. When are we going to learn to address causes and not symptoms. Take the bicycles back to them and ask them to build clinics. Mo lives will b saved and served
This is a real sad development. A few years ago tax payers money was used to buy Pajeros for Chiefs and their Chiefdoms….purely for leisure. The tax payer on the other hand continues to be rediculed by shambolic initiatives such as these- Njinga ambulances. Are these people in Govt. for real or what? What are the road conditions in rural areas…especially in the rain season? Truely this situation is really the lowest of the low….!!
Zed please be serious. Bike ambulances. Really?
#8 munakana ma mobile clinics, what in hell do you want then?
ok first of all the comment r real funny…now delivering women on ambulance when our presido can fly privet jets to mornning side clinic in sa!……….stupidity at its best
LT. IS IT ‘PERSONAL’, OR YOU MEANT TO WRITE ‘PERSONNEL’, IN THE TITLE, “48% of baby deliveries done by non-qualified personal-First Lady”
CAN YOU EMPLOY AT LEAST A GRADE 7 WHO WOULD KNOW MOST OF THE WORDS’ SPELLINGS AND REASONABLY GOOD GRAMMAR.
“She said one woman die every four hours due to complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, a situation which she says needed to be resolved with urgency.” Is this statement just an assumption of the first thinking or its has to do with her on factual research? is there some justification in it?
The government health sector, politicians and civial society organisations should be able to educate people about the purpose and importance of utilising ambulance services in hospitals and in police departments. Most people in villages dont know the purpose of ambulances and how to contact the emergency number or operators. Clinics have atleast one ambulances in rural areas but still people dont use them.
I’ll wud rather be a ‘VIP pregnant cow’ delivered for Kikwete than be a Zambian pregnant woman!!!
pix 1. This zambulance raises a question. Are ambulance in Zambia accompanied by para-medics? Coz whoever designed this ambulance am sure had the normal and civilized one in mind. There4 it is possible that ambulances are not accompanied by para-medic-hence this design which does not provide room for para-medics. And having mentioned civilization one would conclude that zambia is going into the opposite direction of civilization with such an ambulance. I am sure come 2011 RB will still win the elections with such ambulance favours.
Thandi has been in labour before. A pregnant woman in pain cannot get on that thing. They should just use them for delivering mangoes and fi tumbuwa ku state house.
This thief should just bring back all the salary she has been stealing from the ministry of eduction before going on kulimonesha ta errands like these.
bafikala banina indeke to go for thier medicals, but they are giving us bicycles, this
will just increase complications and more deaths to pregnant women. **** the zambike, this another way of still money.
In Zambia we need a lot of humour otherwise you can really be angry, depressed,get sick with what is going on in the country.Laughter is like medicine, i think we need to look at all those situations in Zambia with a lot of humour of course not forgetting the seriousness of the matters and how the Govt needs to be held accountable. God bless Zambia
Hey First Lady Thandiwe… what you said is exactly the message that the journalist Chansa Kabwela was trying to convey to your husband, His Excelency The POTROZ (The President of the Republic of Zambia) when she sent those pictures of that woman giving birth in the parking lot. I don’t undersand why he couldn’t get the message. Now could you please kindly advise him to release that lady unconditionaly? Thank you Madam Thandiwe!
Chinondo,
I completely agree. Calling a bicycle with a stretcher the ‘zambulance’ is a joke and an insult.
I say let them close a few ministries and properly fund both healthcare and road construction.
I and why does the first lady always look so depressed? I feel sorry for her. She’s really very beautiful, but she never smiles.
Chinondo,
I completely agree. Calling a bicycle with a stretcher the ‘zambulance’ is a joke and an insult.
I say let them close a few ministries and properly fund both healthcare and road construction.
And why does the first lady always look so depressed? I feel sorry for her. She’s really very beautiful, but she never smiles.
HOTEL Catering and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (HCAWZ) president Sitwala Mubiana says foreign tourists have begun to list Zambia as one of the dangerous destinations following MMD cadres’ violence against journalists.In an interview yesterday Sitwala said that some high profile personalities such as actors and musicians who had intentions of coming to Zambia had expressed concern at the continued violence being perpetrated by the MMD against journalists and anticipated that this would degenerate into a national crisis hence withdrawing their intentions to visit Zambia.
“A few tourists we mingle with in the sector have indicated to us that a lot of tourists and VIPs who have intentions of coming to Zambia are having second thoughts as they fear that they may end up being caught in…
What they fear is that one day, they would be caught up in a crossfire because where there is violence, people tend to take advantage of the situation and vent their anger on innocent people. And foreign tourists would be an ideal target as they would be viewed as having cash,” he said.
Mubiana said that a lot of travel agents had wondered what Zambia was like after it was last visited by now California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former James Bond actor Sean Connery.
He added that the behaviour of MMD cadres at the Lusaka magistrates court complex was a clear indication of a well perpetrated militia within the MMD and that as Zambia draws close to the 2011 general elections, it is bound to get worse.
Looking at the picture of Mwai Kibaki and Bwezani Banda, is this not full credence lent to be concept of man having descended from apes we are seeing here? These two gentlemen are pathetically urgly, in the olden days they would be sold to go and die in far away lands, accross seas and deserts! Bad seeds!
The Zambulance is a good idea, given that petrol (fuel, Gas whatever you call it) is expensive. I’m sure one can transport a patient to a health center on that thing just in good time. Its easy to criticize other people but its hard to come up with your own solution. Thandi came up with a good short term fix to this problem, she deserves some credit on this one.
It is a well known fact that severe loss of blood is the most frequent cause of maternal death. These women are not dying because of the bumpy ride to the hospital. The article clearly states that most of these women are attended to by non-qualified personnel. I don’t see why all these people are jumping on Thandi’s neck when they cant even read. LT is full of knuckle heads.
Since you appear to understand issues better than your husband, please tell him that it wasnt Chansa Kabwela’s fault to recieve those photos she is being persecuted on, but just what a woman who feels aggrieved would do when some fella cant direct matters in the delivery of quality services in Health. For interest sake, did Thandie consult him when she said this? It seems to go contrary to what her husband thinks. To him all is fine when women give birth out in the open. He calls it ‘obscene.’ Bedroom talk bane and comparison of notes. Help!!! It was mobile clinics and now bicycle ambulances. Twafwa pliz. Yalibila pa Zed.
The figure is too high we need to reduce it
What happens if the pregnant woman goes into labour whilst on the bicycle or so called zambulance?
I bet it will not be pornography.
Lesa twafweni- God help Zambia.
Why then buy those chinese hearses instead of buying ambulances. Opportunity cost.
Thandiwe, would you be happy to be given a lift on those bikes when you are about to deliver another RB’s grandchild? Or any of those women in the picture? I doubt it the look on their faces tells it all. I see an element of skepticism of the face of especially GK’s wife
Guys labour ni labour. It takes someone who has been in labour to understand the pain. that Zambulance is a mockery. it should ferry pipo who have Malaria or someone who has injured himself not a pregnant woman. For heavens sake if i were the first lady i wouldnt have stood next to the zambike zambulance. things are going from bad to worse. Yes you vote for such pipo in power and by our vote they can be out of power ViVa Rajoeline.
# 17 uli shilu mayo nafwa munseko. awe mwee.
These guys are jokers they are running this country kwati kubuta. They are now introducing IFIKOCHIKALA ati amblances to transport pregnant mothers of hospitals. The 27 billion missing in MOH would have been usued to buy proper vehicles for mothers. SHAME on mother Zambia.
Ok i thought it was FLINTSTONES
Christ, when are you coming back? Please hurry back. Tavutika.
#13 Kwandangala – chapala kwati ba first lady bafwele duster coat.
If RB can at least get back a few billions of kwacha from Miti he could pave 4 or 5 roads which could contribute to peoples access to the health facilites which are available. Tandie please pursuade ba mudala to do the noble thing and arrest Miti. We all know that he is implicated in the 27bn plus scandal
SINCE PEOPLE HAVE CRIED SO MUCH ABOUT THESE MANDAMANDA, THEN LET THE CONCERNED MINISTRY TRANSFORM THEM TO A WHITE COLOUR AND PUT THE WORD AMBULANCE ON THEM AND USE TO TRANSPORT WOMEN WHEN IN LABOUR AS EMINENCE OF CHILDBIRTH CAN COME EVEN ON THE WAY TO HOSPITAL. fIRST LADY SHOULD TAKE THINGS SERIOUSLY AND IN REALITY. I TRULLY FEEL VERY SAD, IN THIS ERA WE SHOULDNT HAVE JOKES LIKE THESE. nAUMFWA ICHIKONKO SANA.
BETTER THAN NOTHING
Thandiwe urge RB we need more ambulances than those mobile hospitals. ZamBike ambulances, thats a new innovation I wonder if it will be suitable in plces like WESTERN Province, Chilubi Island, Zambezi Valley and Zambezi West. It would have bin better if that ZamBike ambulance was motorized not chova. When does one reach a health centre located say 50kms. Yes we are a developing country but using bicyles for ambulances is going back 50 yrs backwards. We need better innovations. Mr Muyoya and his boss please try your bikes for ferrying farm produce etc not mothers in labour. We have had enough of useless innovations.
Thandiwe urge RB we need more ambulances than those mobile hospitals. ZamBike ambulances, thats a new innovation I wonder if it will be suitable in plces like WESTERN Province, Chilubi Island, Zambezi Valley and Zambezi West. It would have bin better if that ZamBike ambulance was motorized not chova. When does one reach a health centre located say 50kms. Yes we are a developing country but using bicyles for ambulances is going back 50 yrs backwards. We need better innovations. Mr Muyoya and your boss please try your bikes for ferrying farm produce etc not mothers in labour. We have had enough of useless innovations.
Did you hear Thandiwe’s comment on the new ambulances, she told the guy making the presentation that “niza funsa atate a RB, I will telephoney you. I think we can use them ku muzi”.
Since these contraptions seem to be a solution to a desperate situation, can we please have a demonstration on how they will operate during an emergency. For example, a woman going into early labour.
Sweetheart Thandi be realistic, a woman in labour will die on that thing before reaching Hospital. . Not even a kachasu person can survive that ride.Thank you
I wonder if young ministers like Muteteka & Taima etc will or Dingani Banda RB’s son will allow their wives when in labour to be ferried on those bicycles to Liteta, St Dorothy or UTH to deliver. Lets be serious with some of the things these chaps are bringing pn the market. Wont be another issue of a woman giving birth in on the road. I wish that gentle man asked one of the ladies prsent at the function to try a ride then we would have assessed the suitability of the zambulances. Take those things to Soweto Market for carrying katutundu to bus stops.
Iwe ka Thandiwe dont annoy is when your chima hubby is taking Zambians back to the stone- age by using those ‘Zambulances’ whilst clowns like ka Teta are treated in RSA ! This is c.r.a.p !
I have just read a story in The Post to the effect that Ben Tetamashimba has been evacuated to South Africa for medical attention. Are there still hospitals and doctors in Zambia? I feel sorry for my relatives who are trapped in that hell-hole called Zambia.
Matworld, true dat mudala !
#42 New Zambia. You are spot-on. In most cases am simply being driven crazy by our politicians. What makes me continue living is the love I have for the ordinary people of Zambia. American comedians must start trooping to Zambia. People need them very much. There’s a lot of business for them and Zambia needs seasoned and highly qualified and experienced comedians of the USA type at least to keep Zambians laughing so that they avoid heart attacks.
“Teta evacuated to South Africa “. #72. YOU ARE RIGHT. TETAMA…fimo, fimo has been evacuated to a hotel-like hospital.
First lady,sori not impressed, presentation on 3 bicycle ambulances its big news, common on you people are still backward. Yu want to be in the newspapers all the time. Michelle Obama or Sara Brown work hard and are not headlined every day
LT the grammar in your articles leaves much to be desired. its irritating to read consistently bad english. And its not funny.