By Julius Caleone Mbewe
The Ministry of Health has come under fire for dragging processes towards the Hospital Autonomy Reform Agenda.
The development follows revelation that discussions surrounding autonomy of the country’s central hospitals commenced in 1983 but nothing has happened on the ground ever since.
Appearing before Parliamentary Committee on Health in Lilongwe, one of the Central Hospital Directors, Dr Jonathan Ngoma, criticized the Ministry of Health for lacking seriousness on the Reform Agenda.
Commenting on the development, the Committee’s Chairperson, Matthews Ngwale, said his Committee will summon Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Zanga-Zanga Chikhosi, to furnish the Committee with details on what is derailing the reform’s progress.
Ngwale said: “As Parliament our role is to make sure that whatever is blocking this movement should be fixed.
“So, we will be meeting the Secretary to the President and Cabinet to make sure that he tells us exactly why this hasn’t been signed until now.”
But in his response, Secretary for Health, Dr Charles Mwansambo, said the Ministry has made progress on the Reforms saying there are a few steps that were put in place which most of them have already been done including the development of a concept.
“One major step is to put the hospital boards in place and the names were proposed and submitted to the Secretary to the President and Cabinet but unfortunately the approvals have taken longer time,” he said.
