By DELPHINE ZULU –

FIRST Lady Esther Lungu has called on stakeholders to come up with new initiatives that will help remove obstacles preventing women from living more healthy lives.
Ms Lungu said there was need for all those involved in improving women’s lives to help support vulnerable women in communities and remotest areas.
She said it was critical to intervene in the health of women and provide the needed care to ensure that no woman lacked access to health facilities such as cervical cancer screening due to financial challenges.
“My passion is in the area of empowering women economically, access to healthcare, meaningful education, as evidence shows that empowering women with equal access to such raises the living standards of their families,” she said.
The First Lady urged Zambians to give selflessly to save the lives of women by embracing the culture of giving and caring for sick women in society.
Speaking when she launched the Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia PPAZ ‘Mama Kankasa Gift of Health Initiative’ at Taj Pamodzi Hotel on Thursday night, Ms Lungu said women held the key to a future free from hunger and poverty.
She commended PPAZ for the introduction of a new healthcare initiative of pledges by buying a voucher at a cost of K150,000 through ‘The Mama Kankasa Gift of Health’ which would save lives and create hope for women.
Ms Lungu purchased 200 vouchers to go towards the underprivileged women having difficulties to access healthcare services in the country.
Mama Chibesakunda Kankasa, the freedom fighter and PPAZ patron, said it had been her dream to see that no woman in this country went without essential sexual and reproductive health services due to financial barriers.
She said Zambia was faced with many challenges in healthcare service delivery, low contraceptive and condom use, high incidence of HIV and AIDS, teenage pregnancies and inadequate access to services by the underprivileged.
PPAZ executive director Edward Mutumwa said it was sad that the country still had women who could not access health facilities with 45 per cent failing to access family planning services.
“Even if the figure is currently at 45 per cent of women accessing family planning services, we shall still go ahead and ensure that the targeted 55 per cent is attained,” he said.
Mr Mutumwa said latest figures of school girls dropping out of school were at 16,674 for last year alone, an indication that many did not have access to family planning.
He said PPAZ had targeted rural women in its new programmes where it would have to partner with Government clinics to disseminate reproductive health programmes countrywide.