Malawi

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.

As countries digitalize their health systems, health practitioners and ministries of health are learning what makes the development and introduction of digital health tools and approaches successful. However global policies and digital health investments often do not reflect the priorities and lessons that have emerged from these countries’ experiences.To bridge this gap, the Data Use Acceleration and Learning (DUAL) initiative collected learnings from its five focal countries and packaged them into a model for digital transformation for data use that evolves the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) eHealth Strategy Building Blocks.The DUAL model identifies ten core elements of a comprehensive approach to transforming a country’s health data systems and digital tools to advance data use. Rather than presenting a linear, step-by-step guide for digital transformation, it provides the “ingredients” for success that depend on and enable one another toward catalytic change.The DUAL report allows countries to identify the most appropriate starting point based on the priorities and digital maturity of their health systems. Each element is framed as a standalone chapter with key enabling factors, based on the evidence of what worked and what didn’t in the five focal countries DUAL studied. Specific actions are recommended for each enabling factor and country examples are used to illustrate the DUAL model at work.

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.

In many low- and middle-income countries, hundreds of thousands of people—including many newborns, children, and pregnant women—die needlessly each year from hypoxemia, or a low concentration of oxygen in the blood. Hypoxemia can be caused by a range of illnesses and complications, including pneumonia, neonatal infections, premature birth, obstetric emergencies, and respiratory infections like COVID-19.The COVID-19 pandemic has pointedly highlighted the lack of access to oxygen in lower-resource settings. The biggest barriers to oxygen therapy access include inadequate supply and human resource capacity, funding constraints, and the inability to deploy resources in countries rapidly in a way that ensures maximum impact while not overwhelming existing health care systems. The oxygen landscape is at a pivotal point where short-term pandemic-response efforts require continued support while transitioning to long-term, sustained strategies for ensuring access.This fact sheet offers an overview of the SOURCE project to support countries to equitably improve access to high-quality oxygen services at all levels of the health care system in order to reduce maternal, child, and overall mortality from hypoxemia-related causes. To do so, PATH will incorporate near-term pandemic-response work into a robust set of implementation, advocacy, and research activities that will ensure long-term access to medical oxygen and resilient systems for future pandemic-response efforts.