Medical Officers Warns Mutharika’s Health Order Could Backfire, Trigger Service Disruptions and Patient Crisis

The Physician Assistants Union of Malawi (PAUM) has issued a sharp warning that President Peter Mutharika’s new executive order banning government health practitioners from operating private clinics and cracking down on illegal fees could worsen, rather than fix, Malawi’s already fragile health system. The directive, announced this week, orders a nationwide clampdown on illegal charges in public hospitals and bars all public health workers from running or participating in private medical facilities. Mutharika says the move is meant to restore integrity in the health sector, end corruption, and improve access to healthcare for ordinary Malawians.

But frontline workers say the order is heavy-handed, rushed, and dangerously out of touch with realities on the ground. In an interview with Nyasatimes, PAUM President and Chairperson of the Human Resource for Health Coalition, Solomon David Chomba, described the order as more punitive than corrective. “This is not reform.

This is punishment,” Chomba said. “You cannot fix systemic problems in healthcare through executive anger. You fix them through dialogue, investment, and proper planning.” Chomba warned that the decision risks disrupting services across the country, especially in rural and underserved areas where health workers already struggle to cope with overwhelming workloads and poor working conditions.

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According to PAUM, most government health practitioners are poorly paid and forced to rely on private practice as a survival strategy, not as a criminal scheme. “Health workers are not living luxurious lives,” Chomba said. “Many of them are barely surviving.

The private clinics they run help them pay rent, school fees, and basic needs. Take that away without improving salaries and you push them into desperation.” He stressed that not all practitioners are corrupt and that it is unfair and dangerous to treat the entire workforce as criminals. “You don’t burn down the whole house because of a few rats,” he said.

“Corruption must be dealt with individually and legally, not through blanket bans.” PAUM fears the order could trigger a wave of silent resistance, demotivation, and even resignations, especially among experienced practitioners who already feel undervalued. “Some will comply on paper but withdraw emotionally. Others will simply leave the public system altogether,” Chomba warned.

“When that happens, it is patients who will suffer.” He said the policy could deepen staff shortages, increase waiting times, and worsen service delivery in public hospitals already operating under severe strain. One of PAUM’s strongest criticisms is that the order was issued without consultation with key stakeholders.

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