Stakeholders and a network of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are pressing on Malawi Government to #ValueOurHealth by increasing the health sector budget allocation.Minister of Finance Goodall Gondwe on Friday presented a 2016/2017 budget statement estimated at MK1.1 trillion up from the revised K917 billion in the 2015/16 budget.MK774 billion of this total budget will be domestic revenue while K190 billion will be grants translating to 22.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).“Nonetheless, it is the expectation of the government that ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) will plan their programmes and activities within the available resources, and that they will neither over-commit nor create unauthorized arrears,” Gondwe warned.But stakeholders and a network of CSOs including opposition political parties are calling on Government to consider revising upward the health sector budget allocation.In the 2016/2017 national budget, Minister of Finance has allocated MK95.8 billion to the ministry of health. This represents 8% of the total budget.Leader of Opposition in Parliament Dr. Lazarous Chakwera is of the view that Malawi needs to start valuing the health of the people by increasing the health budgetary allocation.“Mr. Speaker Sir, the health sector continues to face a number of challenges, including critical shortage of staff, essential drugs and equipment. During the 2015/2016 fiscal year, Government, through the Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST), developed a concept of “MUST HAVE” list of medicine and medical supplies. This was meant to rationalize the use of the scarce resources that are made available for procurement of health commodities. CMST continues to have challenges and its stock level is at 50 percent or below. This means that majority of the drugs are not available and most Malawians are buying their own medications following prescription. We have noted that in the 2016/2017 national budget, the health sector has been allocated MK95.8 billion. Mr. Speaker Sir, are we really valuing health of our people if we continue under funding the health sector”? Queried Chakwera.The April 2001 Abuja declaration asked African countries to set a target of allocating at least 15% of their annual budget to improve the health sector. Years later, only one African country reached the target.MamaYe Malawi Country Director Mathias Chatuluka says this is worrisome.“From the look of things the ministry of health budget is far much below Government commitment to meeting the Abuja Declaration. This means that the health sector will continue to experience many challenges that it has faced in the past. The district health offices will continue to receive less funding and this means that efforts to improve maternal and newborn health may not be fulfilled. What we expect parliament to do during deliberation of budget is to identify this serious gap in funding the health sector and support our voice in the advocating for the budget that #ValuesOurHealth and fights for an increment”, said Chatuluka.MamaYe Malawi and Africa Health Budget Network (AHBN) continues to call upon the people of Malawi to take part in the #ValueOurHealth campaign.The campaign seeks to call for open and participatory health budgets for our women and children and asking the Government of Malawi to #ValueOurHealth.“We will continue to press on government as a network of CSOs to make the budgets open and participatory. We will continue meeting the relevant authorities and stakeholders to help us voice out our concerns. Let us #valueOurHealth”, said Dalitso Kubalasa, Malawi Economic Justice Network Executive Director.In Malawi, MamaYe Malawi, the Malawi Economic Justice Network and the Malawi Health Equity Network are championing the #ValueOurHealth campaign in order to press Government for open and participatory health budgets to improve survival of mothers and babies in the country.Click here for more on #ValueOurHealth Campaign
Stakeholders and a network of CSOs including opposition political parties call on Government to consider revising upward the Health Sector Budget allocation.