Government has said the development of the Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP) III has aligned the multi-sectoral approach to human capital development laid out in the Malawi 2063.
Minister of Health, Khumbidze Chiponda said this Thursday when she jointly launched Health Sector Strategic Plan III (2023-2030) and the Health Financing Strategy (2023- 2030) at Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe.
She said the HSSP III and the Health Financing Strategy are pivotal documents developed at an opportune time when the country recently launched Malawi 2063, and its corresponding 10-year implementation plan, the Malawi Implementation Plan 1, (MIP-1), (2021-2030).
“The HSSP III has drawn on the Malawi 2063 principles of self-reliance and mindset change by specifying a reform package to set the health system towards these ambitions and ensure a health system that was fit for purpose,” Chiponda said.
The Minister said the two strategies define a turning point for the health sector and a shift in the way of conducting business.
She said they are as bold in the reforms they have laid out as they are clear in the implementation arrangements of the same.
Chiponda commended all Organizations that have financed the two processes besides the Ministry and this marks the culmination of about one and a half years of work for the HSSP III and about two years of work for the Health Financing Strategy.
The Minister added that the Health Financing Strategy has been in draft since 2014 and they have shown the political will to agree on a new path, and not necessarily an easy one, for health financing in the country.
She thanked all that have participated in the development of these strategies; Ministry Headquarters, District Councils, Regulatory Bodies, Development partners, NGOs, Civil Society, and members of the public.
Chair of Health Donor Group, Dr. Kelsey Mirkovic commended the Ministry of health on the participatory process of developing its HSSP III since the launch of HSSP III development roadmap in June 2022.
She applauded the participatory processes with the representation of healthy donors as members of the Health Sector Working Group.
Mirkovic added that Health donors take cognizant of various reforms in the eight-year HSSPIII toward achieving health sector priorities, outcomes, and impact.
She said among these was recognition from development partners of the need for greater coordination and efficiency in the face of a reducing global financing landscape.
Secretary for Health, Dr Charles Mwansambo said the health sector needs to pull resources together in order to manage its plans effectively.
He said the Ministry would be keen to ensure that the two strategies get the required support for their full implementation in the next eight years.