By Sarah Munthali

Lilongwe, July 4, Mana: Parliamentary Committee on Health, Vice Chairperson, Eurita Valeta has said Direct Facility Funding (DFF) was critical in addressing some challenges faced by health facilities in the country.

Valeta who is Member of Parliament for Nsanje South West, made the remarks when the committee members visited Jalawe Health Centre and Rumphi District Hospital to appreciate facilities where DFF was being piloted.

The DFF pilot programme in Rumphi is part of the Health Sector Strategic Plan funded by UNICEF through CHAI.

“We are impressed with how Jalawe Health Centre is implementing the DFF, with grants they received from UNICEF they have managed to construct toilets, bathrooms and some maintenance works at the facility,” she said.

She said the Parliamentary Health Committee would advocate to government through the Ministry of Health and Parliament to ensure that all health facilities implement DFF to enable them procure various items at their facilities according to their needs.

Valeta stated that the direct funding would reduce delays in procuring resources at the health facilities,

Jalawe Health Centre In-Charge, Kennedy Nyirenda said DFF has encouraged ownership of resources to help in running the facility.

Head of Programmes for AMREF-Health Africa in Malawi, Madalitso Tolani said since implementation of DFF in health facilities in Rumphi district there has been improvements.

“We are supporting the Ministry of Health to develop guidelines on how to implement DFF because this is one of the key interventions that has been highlighted in the Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSS3) to be done across the country. They have identified districts in the first Phase, starting with Rumphi district,” he added.

Tolani said they engaged Parliamentary Committee on Health to visit the facilities to help mobilize resources in Parliament through the Ministry of Health to help implement the programme nationwide.

“DFF advantages our health facilities, they rely on support from the District Council and most of the times their funding is small and they face challenges, very few facilities get the support from the ORT budget, they sometimes fail to do maintenance of their facilities but with DFF some of these challenges will be addressed as they will have autonomy to make decisions on how to use their funds,” he explained.

Parliamentary Committee on Health visited Mzimba and Dowa Hospitals to appreciate nutritional services provision to patients.