Sustainably strengthening the healthcare system in Malawi and protecting children

The long-planned "Umoyo wa Ana Athu" (Chichewa; "The health of our children") centre has now been inaugurated in Malawi to counteract the increasing number of cases of illness and death caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in children and young people. At the same time, a diverse package of measures was initiated, which is supported and financed by the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation (EKFS). The establishment of the centre and the implementation of the measures are a joint project of the Friede Springer Endowed Professorship for Global Child Health at Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H), the Malawian Paediatric and Child Health Association (PACHA) and the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) in Blantyre.

The aim of the project is to sustainably strengthen the healthcare system in Malawi. This is because the increasing threat of NCDs among the younger population is overshadowing the country's recent successes in the fight against infectious diseases.

Responding to the new challenges

"This means that non-communicable diseases such as asthma or mental, malignant and congenital diseases are increasingly coming to the fore," says Prof Dr Ralf Weigel. "However, healthcare staff in Malawi are not adequately prepared for these developments and existing training materials are no longer up to date. In addition, the severe shortage of staff in the health facilities in connection with the rapid population growth jeopardises the health system and future economic developments."

For this reason, the centre will develop and train evidence-based and locally relevant NCD guidelines for health personnel. The implementation and success of the measures will be scientifically evaluated.

The project will run until the end of 2026. Paediatricians from the district and central hospitals, other members of PACHA, KUHeS and the Ministry of Health are currently developing the NCD guidelines in collaboration with the UW/H Global Child Health (GCH) Group. They are the first to deal specifically with the healthcare of children with non-communicable diseases on the African continent and not only consider treatment and diagnosis, but also prevention and health promotion.

Opening emphasised the urgency

Speaking at the official opening of the centre on 26 August 2022 were guests of honour Dr Elizabeth Chodzaza, Executive Dean at the KUHeS School of Maternal, Neonatal, and Reproductive Health, and Dr Jonathan Chiwanda, Head of the NCD and Mental Health Department at the Ministry of Health (MoH). They emphasised the urgent need to control NCDs in children and train more health workers, and reaffirmed the full support of the Ministry of Health and KUHeS for the programme and the centre.

PD Carsten Krüger and Prof. Dr Ralf Weigel gave an overview of the NCD programme and the role of the UW/H GCH group in this collaboration.

Dr Jochen Bitzer, representing the EKFS, presented the history and orientation of the foundation and expressed the intention to continue the cooperation between the MoH, KUHeS, UW/H and EKFS in the long term. In this context, he pointed out two other programmes funded by the EKFS in which the GCH group at the UW/H and the partners in Malawi are already involved: (1) the training of paediatric residents to increase the low number of paediatric specialists in the country, which currently stands at around 35. And (2) the project of the Society for Tropical Paediatrics and International Child Health (GTP) to introduce paediatric ultrasound as an indispensable diagnostic tool in paediatric and adolescent medicine.