Geographical Locations - Malawi

• (Statistical) Number of Inhabitants per Doctor: 45,740
• CIA World Factbook : Malawi

Organisations and Networks

UN and Multinational

• WHO
  - WHO Country Profile - Malawi
  - WHO - Tobacco Control: Country Profile - Malawi
  - WHO - Environmental Burden of Disease: Country Profile – Malawi
  - WHO - Malaria Country Profile - Malawi
• WHO - Regional Office AFRO in Brazzaville, Congo
• UNDP - Malawi

Government

• Malawi Ministry of Health and Population

Non-Government

• Marie Stopes International: Malawi
• MSF - Médecins Sans Frontières in Malawi
• Southern Africa Research and Documentation Centre
  SARDC is an independent regional information centre involved in the collection, production and dissemination of information about the SARDC region, with offices in Harare, Maputo and Dar es Salaam; and network partners in all SARDC member states including Malawi.

Academic Institutions

• University of Malawi
• University of Malawi College of Medicine

National Policy and Related Documents

Reports, Guidelines, and Projects

• Associations between maternal experiences of intimate partner violence and child nutrition and mortality: findings from Demographic and Health Surveys in Egypt, Honduras, Kenya, Malawi and Rwanda
  Background: If effective interventions are to be used to address child mortality and malnutrition, then it is important that we understand the different pathways operating within the framework of child health. More attention needs to be given to understanding the contribution of social influences such as intimate partner violence (IPV). Aim: To investigate the relationship between maternal exposure to IPV and child mortality and malnutrition using data from five developing countries. Methods: Population data from Egypt, Honduras, Kenya, Malawi and Rwanda were analysed. Logistic regression analysis was used to generate odds ratios of the associations between several categories of maternal exposure to IPV since the age of 15 and three child outcomes: under-2-year-old (U2) mortality and moderate and severe stunting (<-2 Z-score height-for-age and <-3 Z-score height-for-age) in 6e59-month-old children. Analyses were adjusted for potential confounders, and the role of mediating factors was explored. Results: The prevalence of physical and/or sexual IPV since the age of 15 years ranged from 15.5% (Honduras) to 46.2% (Kenya). For child stunting, prevalence ranged from 25.4% (Egypt) to 58.0% (Malawi) and for U2 mortality from 3.6% (Honduras) to 15.2% (Rwanda). In Kenya, maternal exposure to IPV was associated with higher U2 mortality (adjusted odds ratio (OR)=1.42, 95% CI 1.18 to 1.71) and child stunting (adjusted OR=1.36, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.61). In Malawi and Honduras, marginal associations were observed between IPV and severe stunting and U2 mortality, respectively, with strength of associations varying by type of violence. Conclusion: The relationship between IPV and U2 mortality and stunting in Kenya, Honduras and Malawi suggests that, in these countries, IPV plays a role in child malnutrition and mortality. This contributes to a growing body of evidence that broader public health benefits may be incurred if efforts to address IPV are incorporated into a wider range of maternal and child health programmes; however, the authors highlight the need for more research that can establish temporality, use data collected on the basis of the study’s objectives, and further explore the causal framework of this relationship using more advanced statistical analysis. [author abstract] [J Epidemiol Community Health (2010), jech.2008.081810 - Published Online: 14 September 2010]
• Development Malawi: Rapid Urbanisation Looks Irreversible
  Frank Phiri, Inter Press Service News Agency, 2004 - an article examining the economic and health impacts of urbanisation in Malawi.
• Financing of Immunization Services in Malawi
  The Expanded Programme on Immunisation "was initiated in 1976 as a pilot Program with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)… Immunization services are presently delivered through 3,400 static as well as outreach clinics nationwide… The goal of the Expanded Programme of Immunization is to reduce infant morbidity and mortality rates due to childhood vaccine preventable diseases by making immunizations readily available to all targets. The overall objective is to vaccinate at least 95% of infants against childhood immunization preventable diseases before they attain 12 months of age and vaccinate at least 80% percent of pregnant and women of child bearing age with doses of tetanus toxoid vaccine… Malawi Government is committed to continue with the provision of pentavalent vaccine to all eligible children. To this end, the Government is further committed to an annual contribution of 20 percent of the total cost of bundled pentavalent vaccine beginning 2006. The national health delivery systems will be strengthened to ensure high national immunization coverage. Therefore, continued financial support from partners is still required in order to sustain the provision of the bundled pentavalent vaccine and for strengthening of the health delivery systems." [16th GAVI Board meeting, Document 21]
• Malawi Demographic and Health Surveys
  This report summarises the findings of the 2004 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS), which was carried out by the Malawi National Statistical Office (NSO). Most of the funds for the local costs of the survey were provided by multiple donors through the National AIDS Commission. The Department for International Development (DfID) of the British Government, UNICEF, and UNFPA also provided funds for the survey. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided technical assistance through ORC Macro. Technical assistance for the HIV testing was provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Mortality Patterns among Adult Women in Malawi, 1979-2004
  "Mortality trends have potential to highlight whether public health programs aimed to reduce deaths in a community are having the desired impact. This article aims to describe the mortality rate trends among Malawian women aged 15-49 between 1979 and 2004." [Croatian Medical Journal, 2007; 48: 880-3]
• Politics and vestiges of the past preventing the introduction of health care user fees in Malawi
  "Health services come at a financial cost. Determining who should bear this cost is an important question for both the user and the state. As far back as 1964 when Malawi attained political independence, this question was raised. The then Prime Minister thought patients needed to provide monetary contribution for their own care, to the dismay of the rest of his cabinet. For over three decades, the confusion that ensued, following many other disagreements, has shaped not only the general political outlook of the country, but also the cost–sharing/user–fee debate, or lack of it. Health care workers and the wider community cannot however run away from the pertinent question that was raised over 35 years ago. Should patients be paying for health services in Malawi?" [Development Bulletin No. 55, July 2001]

Educational Resources

• CDC - Travel Information : East Africa
• Demographic and Health Surveys Malawi
• Forum for Food Security in Southern Africa
  The purpose of the Forum for Food Security in Southern Africa, which has operated since 2003, is to provide a platform for improved linkages between food security analysis, policy making and implementation in the Southern Africa region. It covers the region as a whole and five specific countries: Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique Mozambq, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It has brought together those in government, official donors, NGOs, civil society, the private sector, and international and regional researchers concerned with food security.