Government applauds maternal health programme gains
Minister of Health Atupele Muluzi has said the positive impact of the Results-Based Financing for Maternal and Neonatal (RBF4MN) health facilities shows the model has value for money.
Speaking in Lilongwe last Friday during a Cycle 15th review meeting, Muluzi said the seven fewer deaths per 100 000 persons recorded as a result of the programme show lives of pregnant women and newborns have been saved.
“Government would like to achieve universal health coverage using the RBF4MN model to improve quality of care to save lives of mothers and babies,” he said.
Germany Ambassador Jurgen Borsch said Malawi government has fully endorsed the programme to be a model funding mechanism not only in health services but also in other areas.
RBF4MN country director Mathew Nviiri said the overall performance in Cycle 15 has improved from 92 percent in Cycle 14 to 94 percent with K111 million disbursed in rewards compared to K103 million.
“The programme was externally evaluated by University of Hedburg of Germany and College of Medicine [CoM] which showed seven fewer deaths per 100 000 people per month in RBF4MN facilities compared to non-RBF4MN facilities, which proves there is value for money,” Nviiri said.
