Minister of Health Atupele Muluzi has said government is determined to ensure the availability of medicines and medical supplies in all health facilities in the country to make universal health coverage a reality.
The minister said this on Friday in Mangochi during a media managers and editors workshop Central Medical Stores Trust (CMST) conducted to improve the media’s understanding of the joint MoH and CMST reforms.
In an interview after the workshop, Muluzi reiterated government’s commitment to improving the healthcare system despite the country’s economic challenges.
He said: “Despite economic challenges, government has made significant progress in reducing maternal and neonatal deaths, cholera, HIV and Aids, among other plagues. Going forward, we will strive to deliver universal healthcare coverage.”
Muluzi, however, bemoaned theft of drugs by some unscrupulous workers, saying government will tighten the management of medicines and strengthen supervision activities, apart from letting the “drug theft investigation unit” to decisively deal with the thieves.
Commenting on the workshop, he said it was important because it would help the media experts understand the supply chain of health commodities in the country which would help them write timely and accurate stories.
On his part, CMST chief executive officer Feston Kaupa said the media has been a critical partner in the service delivery of the trust and the ministry by providing information to the public.
“The media has helped us to dispel the misconceptions the trust inherited from our predecessor. This is the reason, since 2016, we have been engaging them to update them on the general Malawi medicine and medical supply landscape,” he said, while pledging to continue the initiative.
