Introduction
Mtendere
Mission Hospital started as a small Rural Health Centre in 1964. It has
grown over the years up to the current covered area of 5,460 square meters
and 145 bed capacity.
The
Hospital has a theoretical catchment population of about 18,000 shared
between eight major villages, but due to the inadequate equipment and
personnel in other adjacent hospitals and the great distance to University
Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, it is forced to fonction as a referral centre
for the entire Siavonga district and moreover for some areas in the neighbouring
districts. This fact raises the inhabitants of the catchment area to a
number more than 60,000.
The Hospital offers an extensive range of in-patient and out-patient diagnostic
and treatment services including Laboratory, Ultrasonography, Endoscopy,
Radiology, Operating Theater, Dental Care, Mother and Child Health, Public
Health Services, Pharmacy.
The Hospital is located in Chirundu, small township of the southern province
of Zambia, right in the Zambezi valley boardering with Zimbabwe, about
150 km from the Capital Lusaka.
Being in a rural area the hospital is surrounded by usual problems of poverty which is characterised by poor road infrastructure, hunger, disease and unemployment. The situation in Chirundu is worsened by the harsh climatic conditions of extreme hot weather and very little rainfall.
On the other hand Chirundu is more of a trading area which is supported by a large transient population of trucks through Chirundu bridge boardering Zambia and Zimbabwe. This scenario has contributed to activities brought about by unemployment like commercial sex thereby increasing the risks of the spread of HIV/AIDS and STIs.
