FBO Technical team and Church Leaders Meeting

In this first quarter of the second year-2011, PBF Rungwe Pilot project conducted two important meetings.  The first one was FBO Technical meeting which was held in Tukuyu on 7^th February 2011.The meeting was attended by in charges and hospital secretaries  of two hospitals in Rungwe i.e. Itete and Igogwe hospital.  The meeting was facilitated by the Zonal Team and Project team in Rungwe.  The aim of the meeting was to thoroughly review the New Comprehensive Council Health Plans, famously known as CCHP. Additionally, to have have inputs for the planned other meetings: Church leaders meeting and Local Government meeting with church leaders. Fr. Lukas Komba- Zonal Policy Forum (ZPF) Southern Zone Secretary presented paper on CCHP Revised Version (Draft) 4^th Edition of 2010.  Then, the members had the chance to discuss various issues related to the document.  However, the major issue raised in the discussion included:  The fundamental change in CCHP whereby Cost centre for Voluntary Agency Health facilities (VA) which ranged between 10-15% )replaced by Service Agreement. Any way this has implication in the services to be delivered by the health facilities in Rungwe. The other one, was having strong FBO representation in the Council Health Service Board(CHSB), which is the decision making body on health in the district, and to lobby for FBOs Health facilities access drugs from Medical supply department(MSD).

Moreover, the  church leaders and in charges of hospital and hospital secretaries met on 9^th February 2011 in Tukuyu,  The aim of the meeting was to familiarize the church leaders on CCHP New Guideline as well. The Zonal PBF Coordinator gave a brief report on Progress reached so far on SA preparation.  That is:  costing exercise for 4 health facilities and Strategic planning for 6 health facilities. These two documents are on final stages.  These two documents are the basis for SA negotiation. Thereafer, Zonal Policy Forum Secretary presented the paper on CCHP.  After these presentations, the members discussed extensively the CCHP document and came up with these proposals: that the church leaders approve the strategic plans in March 2011, and that the church leaders start discussions with the Local Government Authorities, and lastly from 30^th June official discussions on SA start for FBOs health facilities in Rungwe.

Finally, It is worth noting that CSSC has planned National PBF Forum on 4^th March 2011 in Tukuyu, whereby key stakeholders have been invited. The forum is expected to contribute towards fast tracking PBF implementation in the district through SA signing.