Banja La Mtsogolo (BLM), a non-governmental reproductive health service provider, on Friday argued its case to its donors that it is doing a good job providing sexual health services to the local populace, citing as an example its Lunzu Clinic where about eight patients are treated for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) daily.

BLM head of marketing and external affairs Chifundo Malunga made the point when Abel Kaonga, a programme advisor of the Royal, Norwegian Embassy who are one of BLM's donors, inspected Lunzu and other clinics.

Henry Beni, clinical officer at the Lunzu Clinic which serves 15 surrounding villages, said "the numbers of STI cases were high in Lunzu due to the busy commercial orientation of the area and the sex trade that normally results therein.

"The busy road, market, bottlestores, eating houses and resthouses have contributed to high demand for commercial sex activities," said Beni.

Malunga said the quarterly funding of 1.5 million Norwegian Kroner [about K37.5m] BLM gets was being put to good use throughout the organisation's 31 centres and 202 outreach centres countrywide.

On his part, Kaonga said his organisation's funding to BLM was in the realisation that the health service provider was easing government's pressure in the health delivery sector.

"We started funding BLM directly in 2005. However, the arrangement would change in 2009 so that BLM gets funding through government as arranged under the Sector Wide Approach Programme (Swap)," said Kaonga.

by Herbert Chandilanga