Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in the health sector have appealed to government to extend the National Health Insurance Scheme to majority of poor Malawians.
The plea has been made in Lilongwe during a Universal Health Coverage (UHC) country consultation workshop organised by the CSOs.
In an interview with YFM, Executive Director for Health and Rights Education Programme Maziko Matemba said the essential health package needs to be accessed by people who are financially challenged in rural settings.
“We want to ask the Ministry of Health to demand that this National Health Insurance Scheme has to go for everyone so that no one is left behind, they [Ministry] should consider moving the policy to majority of Malawians who live in rural areas to be on the scheme,” appealed Matemba.
Meanwhile the Director of Quality Management and Digital Health Department in the Ministry of Health and Population, Dr Andrew Likaka said the country’s health sector is being improved in order to reach out to more Malawians.
“The health sector as it is today; our focus is access, quality, as well as financial risk protection,” said Dr Likaka.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 1 billion people will be targeted with health care by 2023.
