By Chisomo Phiri

Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda says plans are in the pipeline for government  to introduce levies on alcohol and fuel prices to raise more funds for public hospital operations currently struggling with increasing service demands.

She said this on Friday at Sunbird Capital Hotel in Lilongwe during a press briefing on the launch of the Malawi Health Sector Strategic Plan III.

Kandodo said, currently, the health service bill on every Malawian per year is K68 000 on average and this is against the K170 000 recommended by World Health Organization (WHO).

She said now, under the HSSP lll, government targets to reach K292 000 per person per year.

She said:”Under this HSSP 3, we want to push the health budget for every person annually from the current K68, 000 to K292, 000 through improved health financing system.”

She said among other things, the Strategic Plan will help increase life expectancy, reduce high mortality rate and maternal mortality rates, reduce HIV prevalence and enhance health infrastructure development and services.

The minister emphasized that the Plan will help improve health services at community level and provide health workers with necessary and readily available equipment.

“Additionally, the Plan will turn Health Centres into Community Hospitals to provide integrated health services and care and the digitisation of the health systems,” said Chiponda.

She also revealed that districts like Lilongwe and Blantyre will also benefit from the Plan, allowing them to have District Hospitals which they have lacked for a long time.

“The declaration states that every national budget must contribute 15 percent of the national budget to promote the well-being and livelihoods of people, which as a country we have managed to be at 12 percent which is a good gesture in health promotion,” she said.

She said government is committed to providing all services in Malawi in partnership with the private sector for specialised diseases for robust health service delivery.

The Minister concluded  that her ministry is committed to providing health services to all Malawian nationals and foreigners on Malawian soil.