Airtel donates to UTH mothers’ shelter

AIRTEL Networks Zambia yesterday donated assorted goods worth K100,000 to the mothers’ shelter at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka. The goods include 40 mattresses, 40 blankets, mosquito nets and paint. Airtel Zambia acting managing director Mumbi Mwila said during the handover ceremony that the donation is in line with the mobile service providers’ corporate social responsibility of giving out to the needy in areas where it operates from. Ms Mwila said mothers with sick babies at the hospital face challenges and they should be helped. “Airtel takes pride in giving back to the communities in which it operates. At the same time we have developed healthy relationships with different stakeholders as well as Government to supplement your efforts in bettering the lives of the communities,” she said. Ms Mwila pledged Airtel’s continued support to the mothers’ shelter to alleviate the challenges that mothers face. Minister of Community Development, Mother and Child Health Emerine Kabanshi commended Airtel for the donation. Ms Kabanshi said the donated items will help reduce the high maternal mortality rate in Zambia. “Zambia has a very high maternal mortality and neonatal deaths which now stand at 398 per 100,000 live births and 20 per 1,000 live births respectively. “This donation will therefore go a long way in reducing the high mortality rates in the country,” Ms Kabanshi said. UTH managing director Lackson Kasonka said the institution requires the support of various stakeholders to continue to operate smoothly. “We are a hospital with a lot of needs and demands that we seem not to be affording due to the limited financing that we get. “This event serves as an example to others to also come and donate to this institution so that we can improve the health of our people,” he said. Dr Kasonka said the donation is timely because UTH is facing challenges to adequately maintain the mothers’ shelter.

Zambia Daily Mail