Most Malawians are suffering in silence and being forced to pay Bypass and words fees, since introduction of health reforms agenda in 2015 by government, the Journalist Association Against Aids in Malawi has disclosed yesterday in Lilongwe.
JournalAids Programs Officer DiganiMithi said during round table discussion when presenting report titled: The Right Choices in achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) ahead of Global Commemoration of Universal Health Coverage Day on 12 December.
The introduction of National Health Insurance Scheme is a welcomed development, however, Malawi is not ready to have insurance scheme quickly because the scheme is complicated and other factors needs to be considered with along issues of Bypass fees in public hospital.
“The issue of Bypass fees needs comprehensive research and consultation to enable government understand the impact implication on a poor Malawian. There is a lot silence, people do not have enough money, and Bypass fees would just be a punishment”
“People go direct to public hospitals because they have been to health centres where they were not helped fully due to shortage or lack of drugs, and to punish such people with Bypass fees would be unreasonable”, observed Mithi
Malawi Health Equity Network Acting Programs Manager Davies Mwachumu said any system where paying fees gives, access to higher quality services, leaving lower quality for those who cannot afford to pay, are fundamentally inequitable and incompatible with values of UHC.
He therefore, suggests that the problem can be tackled with joints efforts from the government and Civil Society Organizations in Malawi.
On the same note, a research by Oxfam and its partners found that the Bypass fees introduced in Malawi’s hospitals simply convert the referral system into one based predominantly on the ability to pay. According to the findings, the majority of people interviewed who could afford to pay the Bypass fee reported that they would continue to seek care directly at hospital level, due to concerns about poor-quality services at other facilities.
In addition, the report shows that inequality is growing in Malawi; in just seven years the gap between the richest 10 percent of the population and the poorest 40 percent has increased by almost a third. Oxfam has since estimated that 1.5 million Malawians could be living in poverty by 2020, if inequality is allowed to continue growing at this rate in Malawi.
Public Relations Officer for Ministry of Health Adrian Chikumbe, in separate interview said the Bypass fees have has been introduced to ensure quality delivery services in public hospitals amid of government economic challenges.
According to Chikumbe, the recommended fee is k1500 for Kamuzu Central Hospital and other public hospitals, for Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre is k2500.
Malawi has a proud history of delivering free healthcare for its citizens, but this is now seriously under threat. Bypass fees for hospital are already causing major hardship by excluding poor people from accessing the healthcare they needed.
The round table discussion has been funded by Newyork based Global Health strategies