USAID delivers LHW kits, MNCH packages

Islamabad:The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has handed over 5,000 lady health worker kits, 90 maternal, neonatal, and child health packages, and 120 birthing stations to Pakistani authorities to improve health services in eleven flood-affected districts of the Sindh and Balochistan provinces.

The supplies, which are part of USAID’s $27.8 million investment in the health sector’s flood response, will enable lady health workers and health facilities to provide better health services to more than 80,000 children and 100,000 married women of reproductive age, according to USAID Mission Director Kate Somvongsiri. She emphasised the long-term impact of that assistance.

“The donation of $2.3 million in equipment marks a significant investment in strengthening the health resilience of flood-affected communities in Sindh and Balochistan,” she told the ceremony. The June 2022 devastating floods severely disrupted health services in Sindh and Balochistan, affecting over 13 million people and exposing them to waterborne and vector-borne diseases.

The crisis worsened issues in routine immunisation, maternal health, and child malnutrition. Ms Kate Somvongsiri said in response, USAID and its partners assessed health commodity needs in the hardest-hit districts and identified critical shortages. "The commodities delivered during the handover reflect the needs of these communities and align with national priorities," she said.

The USAID mission director said her organisation's intervention went beyond merely supplying equipment; it represented a lifeline for communities struggling to rebuild. She said the provision of lady health worker kits and the establishment of birthing stations, equipped with essential medical tools such as delivery tables, infant warmers, and vital sign monitors, stood as a testament to that commitment.