The African CDC has urged countries in the continent to invest in Social and Behavioral Change (SBC) interventions for better healthcare.
Social and Behavioral Change Coordinator at African CDC, Dr Priscilla Madzinga Kasena, made the remarks on Friday during the official closing of a four-day First Continental Social and Behavioral Change Costing and Financing meeting in Lilongwe.
Kasena said member states should focus on promoting, strengthening and institutionalizing SBCs by using domestic financing.
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“This will help us a lot towards achieving Universal Health Coverage as well as preserving public health security,” she said.
Kasena added that SBC activities are low cost and need to be part of health care systems leading to increased uptake of health care services.
Director of Planning and Development in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Dr Gerald Manthalu expressed the need for member countries to come up with practical interventions that will be implemented with domestic financing mechanisms.
“Investment in health promotion by many member states has been minimal and negatively affected prevention efforts with a recent donor pull out,” he indicated.
Manthulu however encouraged countries including Malawi to generate their own health by engaging in practices that improve and promote good health.
Participating countries include Gambia, Burundi, Uganda, Libya and host Malawi.
