Health And Community Mobilization Through

1. Empowerment of the marginalised populations To support the marginalized people through education, health promotion programs to enable them  to be able to afford healthcare services If the literacy level of the marginalized populations, as well as their knowledge on health-related matters increase Backward cultural beliefs
2. Policy change on how to adopt culturally-competent and safe healthcare services To empower the conservative people whose cultural beliefs and traditions still do not recognize and appreciate the value of modern medical care If the people refrain from backward cultural beliefs and start embracing modern healthcare by seeking for medical support from the healthcare facilities around them Lack of enough personnel to spearhead the adoption of culturally-competent care and resistance from many quarters of the society especially the conservatives who might be reluctant to adopt the required behaviour change (Yaya, Bishwajit & Shah 2016).
3. Improvement of infrastructure in the rural areas To provide enough roads and other transport facilities to increase access to healthcare services by the marginalized sections of the population If there are adequate transport network facilities like railway lines and roads in all parts of the country especially in the areas where they were initially not available Political interferenc

Select the most challenging risk/challenge listed above. List ways in which this risk/challenge could be addressed or minimised (use dot points, 50 words)? (2 marks)

The most serious challenge that can be faced during the implementation of this action plan is lack of enough funding that can be used to cater for all the improvements. It can, however, be addressed by taking the following measures:

Increasing the amount of taxes paid by the Malawians because it will be used for a common good

The government through the DoH to seek for funds from other sources such as foreign donations and grants

The government should sacrifice other development areas and prioritize healthcare equity and equality (Yaya, Bishwajit & Shah 2016)

What other information/guidance might you provide to Malawi DoH, to guide them in their work and why do you think it would be useful? Write in sentence form as this section will be marked in terms of clarity as well as usefulness. (200 words). (2 marks)

The only advice that I would like to deliver to the DoH is that it cannot achieve health equity if part of its population is still marginalized. The government, through the DoH should know that there is a need to address the problem of marginalization because it means a lot to its people (Abiiro, Mbera & De Allegri 2014). For the government to achieve in its plan of providing a people-cantered care, it should always be ready to encourage the equal distribution of healthcare resources to all parts of the country without any form of discrimination (Colbourn, et al., 2013). Although Africa is a continent that still thrives in ethnicity, the DoH should break this norm and decide to give equal treatment to all the people especially the marginalized (Qureshi, Young, Muyco, Borgstein, Charles, Mulwafu & Mkandawire 2013). Nevertheless, to achieve all these, the DoH should acknowledge that it can work on its own. Instead, it should seek for the contributions of all the stakeholders such as the NGOs, faith-based organizations, and the private investors because each of them has a significant role to play towards the accomplishment of these goals. For example, the church and the private investors can help in the construction and management of hospitals, clinics, dispensaries, and healthcare centres in different parts of the country (Fuentes-Nieva & Galasso, 2014).

References

Abiiro, G. A., Mbera, G. B., & De Allegri, M., 2014. Gaps in universal health coverage in Malawi: a qualitative study in rural communities.

BMC health services research, 14(1), 234.

Colbourn, T., Nambiar, B., Bondo, A., Makwenda, C., Tsetekani, E., Makonda-Ridley, A., ... & Davies, R., 2013. Effects of quality

improvement in health facilities and community mobilization through women's groups on maternal, neonatal and perinatal mortality in

three districts of Malawi: MaiKhanda, a cluster randomized controlled effectiveness trial. International health, 5(3), 180-195.

Fuentes-Nieva, R., & Galasso, N., 2014. Working for the Few: Political capture and economic inequality. Oxfam.

Yaya, S., Bishwajit, G., & Shah, V., 2016. Wealth, education and urban–rural inequality and maternal healthcare service usage in Malawi. BMJ

global health, 1(2), e000085.

Qureshi, J. S., Young, S., Muyco, A. P., Borgstein, E., Charles, A. G., Mulwafu, W., ... & Mkandawire, N., 2013. Addressing Malawi's

surgical workforce crisis: a sustainable paradigm for training and collaboration in Africa. Surgery, 153(2), 272-281.