Steering Mali's Community Health Plan: A Vision Toward Greater Access

In August 2022, Mali’s Directorate General of Health Services (DGS), in partnership with Muso, UNICEF, USAID, the Global Fund, the World Bank, and PSI launched the first Community Case Management (CCM) steering meeting to discuss the objectives of the new national strategic plan for Community Case Management, resource mobilization, challenges, and planned activities for 2021-2025.

The national strategic plan for Community Case Management (CCM) was launched in Mali for the first time in 2011 in the five administrative regions (Kayes, Koulikoro, Sikasso, Ségou, Mopti) with the support of technical and financial partners (TFP), and concerns the most vulnerable segments of the population. The main objective of this plan is to improve health indicators at the community level for people living in areas where access to health services is insufficient.

Why this steering meeting?

The 2016-2020 strategic plan faced significant challenges, such as the non-functionality of the CCM-coordinating bodies, the absence of a sustainable mechanism for motivating Community Health Workers (CHWs), the payment of fees for certain health services, and other obstacles preventing access and reducing the impact of the program. The Malian government, Muso, and other TFPs want to ensure that the mistakes of the past serve as a lesson to make the 2021-2025 plan more effective and reach more patients when they need it, where they need it.

The goal: save one million lives by 2030.

In order to achieve this, the following recommendations were made by the Steering Committee:

Another key objective of this national plan remains for the Malian government to be able to fully ensure the payment of salaries related to the implementation of Community Case Management, particularly that of CHWs, in the long term on a national scale. As part of this effort, the Ministry of Health has requested for Muso to develop an investment case for the national strategic plan, and this project is being led by our health care financing specialist. Our team of technical assistance specialists embedded within the Malian Ministry of Health will provide support to ensure that a national team of community health workers and supervisors are paid, managed and supported to serve a population of 2.7 million by the end of 2022. Muso is optimistic about what lies ahead for community health care in Mali and will continue to support the government's efforts to consolidate gains and create health systems that provide timely and universal care for all.