LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-NGOs, led by the Malawi SRHR Alliance, engaged with the Ministry of Health to discuss the progress of implementing Universal Health Coverage (UHC) targets in Malawi.
The government of Malawi, under UHC2030, committed to ensuring equitable access to quality health services for all people in Malawi by 2030.
In an interview with The Maravi Post, Hans Katengeza, the Deputy Director of the Reproductive Health Directorate in the Ministry of Health disclosed that Malawi has made significant progress in ensuring that Sexual and Reproductive Health Services are accessible to all.
He reported that health financing has improved over the years and is now at 12.8% of the national budget.
“The Maternal Mortality Ratio has decreased from 439 to 381 per 100,000 live births, and the adolescent birth rate has dropped from 29% in 2015 to 22%,” said Katengeza.
Katengeza also highlighted the improved linkages for service provision and the integration of sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS services.
The Alliance and its partners observed that despite this progress, the health sector continues to face persistent challenges, particularly in supply chain management and consistent stock-outs of commodities in rural areas.
The NGOs also pointed out that while there have been improvements, health financing remains a challenge as the improvement is very minimal.
NGOs urged the government and development partners to increase health financing, guard against drug theft, enhance the supply chain, employ and deploy more health personnel to both urban and rural health centers, and operationalize one-stop centers to ensure universal health coverage in Malawi.
Hastings Saka, the National Coordinator for the Malawi SRHR Alliance pointed out that the government of Malawi signed several regional and global commitments, including UHC2030, FP2030, ICPD2030, the Maputo Plan of Action, the Abuja Declaration, and the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development.
He, however, said there is a pressing need to prioritize and improve health financing to achieve universal health coverage in Malawi by 2030.
The engagement meeting was attended by other development partners, including representatives from the Ministry of Gender, Community Development, and Social Welfare, Y+ Malawi, Malawi Health Equity Network, MANERELA+, Health Services International, and the Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre, among others.
The Malawi SRHR Alliance is implementing a five-year SRHR4ALL project in partnership with Men Engage Alliance, with funding from NORAD through Sonke Gender Justice.
