Malawi

Investing in medical oxygen and respiratory care education closes the gap between oxygen availability and its access.

The trial aimed to determine how well a new, injectable, non-replicating rotavirus vaccine candidate works, compared to a licensed oral rotavirus vaccine in preventing infant diarrhea.

This high-level webinar was part of the VacciNations Campaign, bringing together policymakers, technical teams, key decision-makers and civil society organizations from the African region and beyond.It focused on immunization financing and accountability, and what is needed to ramp up efforts towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 3 targets. The presentations included findings from recent studies on immunization financing, and identified strategies to improve funding and accountability mechanisms to achieve the 2030 SDG 3 targets.

PATH collaborated with the Ministry of Health in Malawi to create an essential spare parts list, determine annual spare part quantities needed, and estimate the cost for the spare parts to facilitate budget and procurement decisions.This analysis suggests that Malawi needs to stock between 23,965 and 73,581 units of spare parts annually to support 12 respiratory care medical device types. The range is driven by the frequency of replacing spare parts, and the variation of spare part costs from local distributors. While providing valuable insights into the spare part requirements for respiratory care devices in Malawi, the study underscores the importance of adequate budgeting and inventory management. The study's findings highlight a significant demand for spare parts within health facilities, suggesting a need for a special annual budget allocation.

Through strong partnerships, Malawi is transforming its digital health system.

Policies that build strong primary health care systems are essential to advancing health equity— but they are complex and difficult to design. PATH created the PHC in Policies Tracker as a consolidated source of information to equip stakeholders including policymakers, advocates, implementers, and donors with information about existing policies that shape PHC systems. This new virtual public dashboard tool maps and analyzes data about national-level health policy documents relevant to primary health care (PHC) in 26 low- and middle- income countries—comparing content of these policies with recommendations laid out in key global-level guidance frameworks such as the WHO PHC Monitoring Framework and Indicators (MFI). The tracker aims to improve understanding of policies for PHC in LMICs, add to the global conversation about how to design robust policy for PHC, and help users identify high-impact opportunities for action toward better health for all. This brief provides an overview of the findings and key takeaways from the tracker project, as well as information about methodology and limitations. Access the tracker at bit.ly/PHC_policy_tracker

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.

Malawi strengthens its routine immunization system with launch of typhoid conjugate vaccine.

Medical devices are critical for detecting and treating many serious health conditions facing mothers and newborns, including anemia, pre-eclampsia, and neonatal respiratory distress. They also have expensive and complex training and maintenance needs and are thus challenging to manage effectively in low resource settings. However, there is a lack of systematic, cross-country, and cross-device data outlining these challenges and evaluating current device access.PATH led the Market Dynamics for Medical Devices (MD4MD) project to address this need, quantifying device availability and diagnosing key barriers to access for five priority countries and seven priority maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) devices. This report aims to summarize key findings from this research and outline an investment agenda for improving access to these critical devices.

One year ago, Malawi launched its first National Medical Oxygen Ecosystem Roadmap. It is already helping to close the oxygen access gap.