New Center in Malawi Improves Children's Health

Malawi is a young country: half of the population is under 18 years old. But it is precisely for them that health systems often lack what they are supposed to provide: Structure, coordination, reliability.

This is why the Else Kröner Centre (EKC) for Global Child Health is being established in Blantyre under the umbrella of the Paediatrics and Child Health Association (PACHA) in cooperation with the Friede-Springer Endowed Professorship for Global Child Health at Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H). The Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation (EKFS) is funding the centre with two million euros over a period of five years. The aim is not to combat individual diseases, but to strengthen a system that provides better long-term care for children.

Else Kröner Centre for Global Child Health joins forces

There are many child health projects in Malawi. However, they often run side by side, are limited in time and are barely interlinked. This is precisely where the new centre comes in. "Many initiatives are good, but they often fail to have an impact because they are not sufficiently coordinated," says Prof Dr Ralf Weigel, holder of the Friede-Springer Endowed Professorship for Global Child Health. "Children don't get healthier because there are more projects. They become healthier when these projects are interlinked and aligned with the country's health priorities."

With the EKC for Global Child Health, PACHA therefore has a structure for the first time that bundles measures, sets priorities and ensures quality. Together with the Ministry of Health in Malawi and the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS), a resilient system is set to grow. "The EKC for Global Child Health brings together the right partners, strengthens local expertise and thus creates the basis for care that reaches children in the long term," says Dr Jochen Bitzer, responsible for humanitarian funding at the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation. "The centre is designed as a coordination centre, think tank and training platform all in one," says Weigel.

Building sustainable structures together

The centre is explicitly about partnership: knowledge flows in both directions. The UW/H contributes its scientific and structural expertise to the centre. Together with the local partners, it develops further education and training programmes, accompanies research projects and supports the development of sustainable organisational structures. The partners in Malawi show how healthcare works under real conditions - with scarce resources and a high workload.

The UW/H also plays a central role in project management. It ensures that the funding is used in a targeted manner and that the measures are implemented according to a clear work plan.

In the coming months, the centre will be staffed and the first programmes will be launched. The focus will be on training, research and concrete improvements in care. In the long term, the aim is to create a structure that is self-sustaining, raises its own funds and becomes the central authority for child health in Malawi.