Health sector stakeholders have urged government and other partners to consider increasing funding towards non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which currently contribute an estimated 32 to 40 percent of deaths in the country.
The call came during a presentation of NCD care and financing policy brief in Lilongwe that the NCD Alliance Malawi organised and it highlighted critical challenges and proposed actionable solutions to bridge gaps in prevention, care and financing.
The policy brief, based on a landscape analysis, revealed key issues that include insufficient budget allocation to NCDs, weak medicine supply systems and a lack of integrated care services.
NCD Alliance Malawi chairperson Maud Mwakasungula said NCD care has for long remained underfunded, as such, it was high time authorities ensured sufficient resource allocation to the sector.
“We need to lobby so that we have a directorate for NCDs at the ministry [Health], otherwise, just having a unit or division does not augur well because it is so vast,” she said.
Mwakasungula also emphasised the importance of collective efforts to advance health equity, reaffirming that effective implementation of the proposed recommendations to various players is crucial for reducing the NCD burden in the country.
Kidney Foundation of Malawi board chairperson Samuel Kumwanje said NCDs were critical and claim many lives, as such, it was important for the government to consider increasing its budget allocation to respond to the diseases.
“We urge government, through Parliament , to seriously consider persons living with non-communicable diseases by channelling more funding to interventions that address NCDs,” he said.
However, Parliamentary Committee on Health member Kafandikhale Mandevana said his committee would discuss the issue and “see how best we can come in and help.”
He said: “The statistics of people dying due to NCDs is alarming. It is obvious many people are not aware about the NCDs so it’s indeed important that more funds are allocated.”
Mandevana, who is also Nsanje Central parliamentarian further encouraged the NCD Alliance Malawi to arrange more interventions with the committee.
The meeting, organised under the NCD Alliance Malawi Advocacy Institute Accelerator Programme funded by the NCD Alliance Global, was attended by, among others, representatives from World Health Organisation, African Medical and Research Foundation, National Aids Commission and ministries of Health, Trade, Transport and Public Works, Information and Digitalisation.
