Model Rural Health System
Working in collaboration with the Ministry of Health Community Health Unit, Zimba District Health Office, Healthcare Facility staff, volunteer doctors, On Call Africa staff and communities we have co-designed a model rural health system, which we are piloting in Kanyanga and Chalimongela Rural Health Posts and looking to build evidence of impact of a holistic health system strengthening programme that could be adopted by Ministry of Health.
Following an extensive and collaborative design process we have identified the biggest challenges at both facilities and come up with clear quality improvement roadmaps. Interventions will be designed and delivered by Zimba District Health Office, facility staff and community members with On Call Africa’s Support.
Overview
Kanyanga is situated in a remote rural part of Zimba District in Southern Province. The facility is 80km from the nearest doctor, at Zimba Hospital, which is challenging to reach on poor roads. The health post has recently been developed to serve a very large catchment area, a population of 24,701. In this area there are outreach posts up to 40km from the health facility with no means of motorised transport.
Despite serving such a large population, the facility only has 4 health workers, serving 16 outreach posts. As a result services at the facility are often run and managed by Community Based Volunteers with limited and varying levels of training.
Following a 4 month assessment period this detailed report was produced. A summary of findings can be found below.
Following this assessment phase, On Call Africa, Ministry of Health, Kanyanga Rural Health Post staff and community members developed the following roadmap for improving the functionality of the health system:
Our role
On Call Africa began working with Kanyanga Rural Health Post in 2021, to identify its biggest challenges and assess needs both at the facility, and within the communities in it’s catchment area. We placed volunteer doctors in the facility, who worked alongside existing nurses and Community Health Workers offering diagnosis and treatment, and supporting outreach activities, while conducting assessments, mapping and developing clear implementation plans for On Call Africa, Ministry of Health and partners to take forward. We also have been working with partners to deliver public health interventions that meet the individual health needs of each community.
As of March 2022 the following activities have been completed:
- Capacity building of staff to address antibiotic stewardship
- Health promotion planning completed
- Mothers’ shelter and WASH intervention designs completed with relevant district teams
- Community mobilised to provide materials for construction
- Community Lead Total Sanitation (CLTS) training delivered to 51 community champions and teachers resulting in 215 pit latrines being brought up to Ministry of Health standards.