Malawi Ministry of Health

About

Towards Universal Health Coverage

The goal of the HSSP II is to move towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) of quality, equitable and affordable health care with the aim of improving health status, financial risk protection and client satisfaction.
UHC is defined as a situation where everyone – irrespective of their ability-to-pay – gets the health services they need in a timely fashion without suffering any undue financial hardship because of receiving the care. Malawi is moving towards UHC through implementation of the essential health package, which Government and its development partners will endeavour to make accessible to every Malawian free at the point of care.

The Mandate of the Ministry Headquarters is to set the agenda for health in Malawi in collaboration with stakeholders. The Minister of Health provides Government’s Policy directions on health matters. The Secretary for Health is responsible for the overall functioning of the health sector supported by health professionals, technical, administrative, financial, human resource, procurement and other expert staff.

The Ministry Headquarters  is responsible for developing, reviewing and enforcing health and related policies for the health sector; spearheading sector reforms; developing and reviewing standards, norms and management protocols for service delivery and ensuring that these are communicated to lower level institutions; planning and mobilizing health resources for the health sector including allocation and management; advising other ministries, departments and agencies on health related issues; providing technical support for supervision; coordinating research; and monitoring and evaluation.

Ministry executes these functions through its fourteen directorates, these are:

  1. Directorate of Administration
  2. Directorate of Finance
  3. Directorate of Human Resources
  4. Directorate of Clinical Services
  5. Directorate of Nursing & Midwifery Services
  6. Directorate of Preventive Health Services
  7. National Public Health Institute of Malawi
  8. Directorate of Health Technical Support Services (HTTS)
  9. Directorate of Planning & Policy Development (P&PD)
  10. Directorate of Health Research
  11. Directorate of Reproductive Health
  12. Directorate of Safe Motherhood
  13. Directorate of Nutrition
  14. Quality Management Directorate

Mission

The Mission of the Ministry of Health and Population is to provide strategic leadership for the delivery of a comprehensive range of quality, accessible, and efficient health services to all Malawians through the creation and sustenance of a strong health system.

Vision

The Vision of the health sector is to achieve a state of health for all the people of Malawi that would enable them to lead a quality and productive life.