Vubwi District Council Chairperson, Vincent Mwale, has called on the government to address the plight of Zambian parents who children were born in Malawian health facilities near the borderline.
The children born in Malawi are now allowed to get Zambian National Registration Cards (NRCs) when they attain the age 18 years.
Mr Mwale said a number of people in Vubwi district living on the borderline with Malawi faced challenges covering distances of about 70 kilometres to access antenatal and postnatal health services, thereby opting to cross the border to nearby facilities in Malawi.
“Back in the day, there were instances where parents in far-flung places like Sindemisale could not afford to come to Vubwi centre for medical attention during pregnancy emergencies. It was much easier for them to cross over than come to our health facilities,” he said.
The Council Chairperson noted that due to varying measles procedures that are conducted on infants in Zambia and Malawi, children are not recognised as Zambians when they request to obtain an NRC in Zambia.
Measles vaccinations leave distinct Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) markings on human bodies.
He has since requested the government to consider erecting a mini-hospital in the Zozwe and Sindemisale wards to curb such instances from reoccurring in the future.
“It is far for an ambulance to move 70 kilometres from Vubwi hospital, then 70 back. If it is a referral case it means 140 kilometres, plus another 50 kilometres going to Chipata. We need help especially for these two wards,” he said.
He observed that the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) would not be adequate to fund the construction of a mini-hospital in the area.
Mr Mwale said this following a complaint from a parent residing in the said areas, whose children were not allowed to acquire an NRCs.
The victim raised a complaint after his children could not get NRCs due the aforementioned procedural challenges.
Gilbert Mbewe, who is a headman of Tafela Dziko village in Sindemisale area, lamented that his biological children could not be given National Registration Cards on suspicions of not being Zambian citizens.
“We found help close, it was not possible for us to move the heavily pregnant mother to Mwami. By that time, there was only one clinic that side,” he lamented.