The Malawi Ministry of Health (MOH) faces two key challenges in making evidence-based budgeting, procurement, and management decisions for medical equipment: 1) the lack of up-to-date information on the type and status of equipment in health facilities and 2) limited knowledge of root causes underlying many common access barriers.

To address this gap, PATH partnered with the MOH’s Health Technical Support Services (HTSS) Directorate to conduct a detailed equipment inventory survey that documents current availability and functionality of key medical equipment across all government-run central, district and community hospitals as well as most health centers.

As part of the Market Dynamics for MNCH Medical Devices (MD4MD) project, this report highlights the findings from that survey—focusing on 24 priority devices from the national Standard Equipment List. Key findings include: (1) availability of the priority devices is low, and most facilities do not meet national minimum standards; (2) availability varies significantly across equipment and devices, facility levels, and geography; (3) the prevalence of nonfunctional equipment significantly widens the aforementioned gap in device availability; and (4) a relatively high degree of brand proliferation poses challenges for training and maintenance, particularly in central and district hospitals.