Minister of Health and Sanitation Honorable Madalitso Baloyi, MP who actively participated throughout the two-day session, described the gathering as a success and a demonstration of power of collaboration in working together to improve the health sector.
The Minister said she was impressed with the quality of presentations and deliberations in that it has shaped the future of the health sector in Malawi and has challenged key players to translate all the recommendations into achievable goals. Among other things, the Minister mentioned the need to consider exploring introduction of paying services in all public hospitals to generate resources, invest in human resources and centers of excellence especially in all referral central hospitals to reduce external referrals.
Secretary for Health and Sanitation, Dr. Dan Namarika indicated that the Ministry will work with policy makers to ensure all outstanding health related bills are followed up and enacted to help implement recommendations made during the review. Dr. Namarika for instance cited the Public Health bill, Food and Nutrition bill as well as sanitation and Hygiene policy, which are instrumental in the delivery of quality health care.
In addition, he said his office will take deliberate measures to strengthen all public health facilities’ technical groups, hospital ombudsman and the health advisory committees to ensure there’s smooth flow of information and feedback with the community. To maximize domestic financing, the Secretary for Health and Sanitation stated that the government will take an extra mile working with the private sector such as banks and other institutions of goodwill.
“I am happy to notify you that some banks among them FDH have expressed interest to invest in human resource development, particularly the bank wants to support at least 10 heath personnel to attain high quality training, this is recommendable and it is our hope that some local institutions will support’, hoped Dr. Namarika.
Taking his turn, Chairperson for the Parliamentary Committee on Health honorable Anthony Masamba, MP described the 2024/2025 Integrated JAR as timely, saying the parliamentary committee will continue to lobby for increased resources towards the health sector. “We are in agreement with all the recommendations, I can assure you that this parliamentary Committee on Health is committed to ensure that Malawi’s health sector has conducive policies and this is the reason we are going to push that all outstanding bills are brought to the house for deliberation and approval”, stated Chairperson.
Starting from 2023-2024 Fiscal Year, the National AIDS Commission (NAC) in conjunction with the Ministry of Health (MOH) commenced the implementation of an Integrated Joint Annual Review (JAR) of the Health Sector and the National Response to HIV and AIDS. The 2024 Integrated JAR was the first under the Health Sector Strategic Plan III, embracing a unified approach of One Plan, One Budget and One Report. By moving from separated reviews of the Health Sector and the national HIV and AIDS Response to a combined format, the sector seeks to migrate from a piece meal approach of addressing health challenges to a holistic approach.
The 2024/2025 JAR brought together at least 250 delegates.
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