CCJP Improves Relationships between Health Workers and Communities
By Deodatus Muriya (Monitoring and Evaluation Desk Officer)
The Justice and Peace Desk of Karonga Diocese has contributed to the improvement of relationships between health workers and communities in Karonga and Chitipa through the Health Governance Project funded by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA).
This was revealed during the Review and Planning meeting the Desk held at Viphya in Chilumba from 26th to 28th December, 2017. The meeting reviewed the progress made in the implementation of the ‘Promotion of High Quality, Accountable and Responsive Public Health Service Delivery’ project. The meeting also reviewed the Detailed Implementation Plan of the project.
The Justice and Peace Desk Officer, Mr Louis Nkhata, said he was impressed with the progress the project is making against the indicators as presented in the report from the Monitoring and Evaluation Desk. He further said that through capacity building of community structures, community awareness and engagement with duty bearers, the project has strengthened collaboration between health workers and people from the communities.
Mr Nkhata said that the main focus now would be to engage the Central Government to reveal the drug budget as allocated to different health facilities since drugs are purchased centrally from the Central Medical Stores and supplied directly to health facilities. He even district hospitals are not aware of the funds allocated them in terms of drugs and the quantity of drugs they are supposed to receive.