KATHMANDU: The Asian Parliamentary Health and Finance Committee Chairpersons’ Meeting held in Bali, Indonesia from November 3 to 5 presented important perspectives on sustainable financing, policy reforms, good governance, access to health care and Tuberculosis (TB) control.
Representing Nepal in the high-level meeting attended by the chairpersons and representatives of the Health and Finance Committees of the parliaments of different countries of the Asia Pacific region, Dr Krishna Hari Budhathoki, Chairperson of the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives and Dr Ojaswi Shrestha expressed their views on the challenges of Nepal’s health system, possibilities of improvement and necessary policy priorities. Consultants Madhusudan Kafle and Ranjita Dhital were also actively participating in the meeting.
Speaking at different sessions of the meeting, Finance Committee President Budhathoki said that the effectiveness of the health sector would not be determined only by the size of the budget, but by proper allocation of available resources, transparent utilization, institutional coordination and result-oriented implementation. Stating that many countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including Nepal, were facing challenges such as fragmented health financing, poor institutional coordination and unequal access to health services, he stressed the need to give priority to domestic resource mobilization, national ownership and effective utilization of public expenditure.
He said, “International cooperation is important for the improvement of the health sector, but domestic resource mobilization, national ownership and strong institutional coordination are essential for building a sustainable health system. Citizens can access quality health care only through accountability and optimum utilization of limited public resources.” ’
Chairman of the Health and Education Committee, Dr. Ojaswi Shrestha also presented Nepal’s perspective on strengthening the health system, quality of health services and easy access to the citizens. She pointed out the need to see health care as a fundamental right of the citizens and an important responsibility of the state and stressed on the implementation of policy commitments in practice. She presented the issues of primary health care, timely detection of diseases, effective treatment, capacity building of health manpower and expansion of access to health services to remote and disadvantaged communities as important aspects of health system reform. She was of the view that the expected results could be achieved only through effective coordination among health sector programs and shared responsibility of the parliament and the government.
Nepal’TAG_OPEN_strong_35 s commitment to TB control and identification of missed patients
During the discussion on tuberculosis control, President Budhathoki pointed out that there are still challenges in identifying, testing, treating and regular identification of TB patients in various countries of Asia Pacific region including Nepal. He said that the main need of the hour is to bring the patients who are out of reach of the health system, who have not been identified and have not been included in the regular report but have not been identified.
He stressed the need for the parliament, government and concerned health institutions to play a coordinated role to identify, test, treat and regularly report the TB patients in Nepal, raising the issue of a large number of TB patients still outside the detection and reporting system.
He expressed his commitment to identify the missing and unidentified patients and bring them to the health system, to include the patients identified but not included in the report in the regular reporting system and to play an active role in ensuring the continuity of treatment. He said that tuberculosis control is not only a health issue but also related to social justice, economic security and human development.
Special emphasis on health financing and parliamentary accountability{
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He stressed on sustainable health financing, effective implementation of policies and laws, integration of tuberculosis and lung health programmes in primary health care and effective monitoring through parliament and thematic committees.
Asia Pacific Regional Cooperation and Shared Commitment
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The health related sessions of the meeting also discussed the issues of strengthening the health system, tuberculosis and lung health, access to primary health care, use of modern technology and sustainable financing. It was emphasized that new technologies, effective testing systems, timely diagnosis and continuity of treatment were stressed on the need to provide health services especially to the remote and vulnerable communities.
During the meeting, the countries of the Asia Pacific region expressed the view that common strategies, experience sharing, resource mobilization and cross-border cooperation should be further strengthened to control TB. It was emphasized that there is a need for continuous collaboration among the parliament, government, international organizations and health partners as health challenges are not limited to any one country.
Noting that Nepal was committed to playing an active role in such regional and international efforts, the two chairmen were of the view that the experience gained from the meeting would be utilized in Nepal’s policy formulation, budgetary priorities and parliamentary monitoring.
With the conclusion of the three-day meeting, the participating countries shared experiences and perspectives on sustainable financing of the health sector, TB control and making parliamentary cooperation more effective. The meeting has provided an important foundation for finding common solutions to health challenges among the countries of the Asia Pacific region and building accountable health systems at the parliamentary level.
