MHEN Urges Adequate Health Sector Funding in National Budget

Malawi-The Malawi Health Equity Network (MHEN) has called on the government to consider allocating more funding to the health sector in the national budget, writes Moses Nyirenda.

MHEN Board Chairperson Carolyn Kassam made the call during the 2023–2024 budget interface meeting organized by MHEN on Wednesday in Lilongwe.

Kassam noted that MHEN had found funding deficits in the health sector in the current national budget.

“As an organization, we found that in the current national budget, the money allocated to the health sector is not enough,” said Kassam.

“For instance, the department responsible for addressing issues concerning cancer is supposed to be given almost K7 billion, but we have seen in the budget that only K1 billion was allocated to this department, and in addition to that, the issue of drugs was also not well considered in the budget.”

Kassam recommended that the government adopt ways to improve the budget and consider health financing as an investment.

She also urged the government to track the funds allocated to the health budget, as some funds are lost after disbursement, affecting the budget's purpose.

Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance Chairperson Gladys Ganda commented that the committee would liaise with the Ministry of Finance to address the challenges raised by MHEN.

“MHEN has highlighted issues that are critical in nature, for example, the issue of drug and blood budgets, about which they have indicated that there is not enough, is very critical in nature. Therefore, as the Budget and Finance Committee of Parliament, we have heard them, and we will try to lobby with the Ministry of Finance to resolve the issues that have been raised,” said Ganda.

MHEN's call for adequate funding in the health sector comes amid rising health challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need to improve access to health services in Malawi.