Malawi

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.

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.

Medical devices are a critical but often overlooked component for effective facility-based care, especially for women and children. Many medical devices have unique characteristics that make them difficult to manage effectively, particularly in low-resource settings. For instance, some devices can serve multiple clinical uses across different health programs—complicating ownership and funding responsibilities. They can sometimes require extensive training, ongoing preventive maintenance, and a reliable supply of specialized parts and accessories.This fact sheet offers an overview of the Scaling Access to Lifesaving Equipment (SCALE) project—which builds on previous research and initiatives under Market Dynamics for Medical Devices. Through this project, PATH will identify and test promising new business and operating models, while strengthening the underlying systems for managing all durable medical devices and equipment. With a vision that patients should have reliable access to device-related health services, this project seeks to ensure medical devices are available and functional in sufficient quantities across health facilities.

This document is a resource list and compendium of national-level guidelines and protocols for selected countries based on the neoLENS policy review, as of February 2022.