Ministry of Health Principal Secretary (PS) Sam Mndolo has disclosed that Malawi aims to create a more sustainable environment for community health workers through collaborative efforts with funders and stakeholders towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) goals.
Speaking at a High Level Session on the sidelines of the Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) in Kigali, Rwanda on Monday, the PS admitted that community health workers are key to achieving health outcomes by helping to improve access to healthcare and advancing equity in under-reached communities in Malawi.
However, he said one of the primary challenges the ministry faces regarding community health workers is that of a community health financing architecture that is able to mobilise adequate resources for implementation of programme interventions, including ensuring that the community health workers are adequately trained, supervised, equipped, and salaried.
To achieve a sustainable environment for the community health workers, Mndolo said government has developed the National Community Health Framework (NCHF) that is aligned with the pillars of the National Health Strategic Plan III (HSSP III), and in the spirit of One Plan, One Budget, One Report, and towards UHC.
Said the PS: “The One Plan, One Budget, One Report initiative is a strategic framework aimed at harmonising health sector planning and funding, including for community health workers programmes.
“This policy seeks to consolidate various health plans into a single comprehensive plan that aligns with national priorities and ensures efficient use of resources, including for Community health financing.”
He further observed that the initiative plays a critical role in fostering innovative and sustainable funding mechanisms for Community Health Workers by promoting integrated planning, accountability, stakeholder engagement, and a focus on domestic resource mobilisation.
In his remarks, senior director for Integrated Health System Investments at Amref Health Africa-Ethiopia Addis Tamire highlighted that the funding gap for community health programmes in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated at $4.4 billion.
“Over and over, we have learned that CHWs fill critical gaps while delivering quality, affordable services closer to underserved communities… A heavy reliance on donor funding, even where we have this funding, it is fragmented and not gender responsive. All this makes it difficult to build resilient and effective community health systems,” he stated.
Tamire has since called on governments and other stakeholders to prioritise investing in the scale up of integrated community health systems that ensure that community health workers are skilled, supervised, supplied, compensated, and fully integrated in the health system.
The High-Level session was co-organized by VillageReach, Living Goods, Unicef and Africa Frontline First at the AHAIC, with a focus was on identifying and implementing innovative financing models that diversify and stabilise community health workers funding and to act as an impetus for Domestic Resource Mobilisation
