Adherence to Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses in Malawi

The Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) protocol was developed to improve the quality of child health care and reduce under-five mortality. Malawi adopted IMCI in 1999, but little is known about how well providers follow the protocol, especially in the private sector. To examine gaps in adherence to the IMCI protocol, this brief analyzes data from the 2013–2014 Malawi Service Provision Assessment of public and private health facilities to provide critical information to improve the quality of sick child care in Malawi.

Family Planning Market Capacity Tool: Estimating Provider Time Available and Needed for Family Planning Services

The Family Planning (FP) Market Analyzer (fpmarketanalyzer.org) combines data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and FP2020’s projections of modern contraceptive prevalence (mCPR) to allow users to explore potential scenarios, including shifts in market share between the public and private health sector. Users of the FP Market Analyzer can explore policy scenarios that include changes in method mix, source mix or both. Based on population growth, mCPR growth and the chosen scenario, results show changes in FP visits by sector and method. However, these scenarios do not take into consideration available provider time and whether there is sufficient capacity.

The Family Planning Market Capacity Tool was developed to estimate current and future provider time (measured though level of effort (LOE) in hours) needed for provision of family planning services to provide context for the feasibility of different shifts in method mix and market share between the public and private health sector. The FP Market Capacity Tool should be seen as a starting place for conversations about what the current health infrastructure looks like within a country, and how that relates to the potential feasibility of different future scale up plans. In addition, other considerations need to be taken into account beyond simply the availability of provider time, including training and quality assurance, client and provider preferences, and the affordability of services, especially within the private sector.

This tool has been pre-populated with data for 7 countries for which sufficient data on health care infrastructure in both the public and private sector could be found: Bangladesh, DRC, Haiti, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, and Senegal.

Sources of Family Planning: Malawi

Among modern contraceptive users in Malawi, 20 percent obtain their method from the private sector and 79 percent obtain their method from the public sector. Understanding where women acquire their family planning methods is important to catalyze efforts to meet Malawi’s Family Planning 2020 commitments and Health Sector Strategic Plan II goals. In addition, Malawi’s Costed Implementation Plan for Family Planning (2016-2020) calls for a better understanding of the private sector’s role, and makes a commitment to create more opportunities for public-private partnerships to strengthen family planning service delivery. This brief presents a secondary analysis of the 2015–16 Demographic and Health Survey to describe where modern contraceptive users obtain their method and to highlight the contribution of the private sector to family planning.

Sources for Sick Child Care in Malawi (Presentation)

The public sector is the dominant source of care in Malawi. Understanding if and where sick children are taken for care is critical to improve case management interventions. This presentation provides a secondary analysis of the 2015-16 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey to examine where treatment or advice is sought for sick children who experienced at least one of three treatable illnesses: fever, acute respiratory infection, or diarrhea. These illnesses represent some of the leading causes of death in children under five years old.

Sources for Sick Child Care in Malawi

The public sector is the dominant source of care in Malawi. Understanding if and where sick children are taken for care is critical to improve case management interventions. This brief presents a secondary analysis of the 2015-16 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey to examine where treatment or advice is sought for sick children who experienced at least one of three treatable illnesses: fever, acute respiratory infection, or diarrhea. These illnesses represent some of the leading causes of death in children under five years old.

Assessment of the Pregnancy Test Market in Malawi

The SHOPS Plus project conducted a market shaping assessment of pregnancy tests in Lilongwe, Malawi. The assessment shows that pregnancy tests are widely available in the private sector, which offers a range of different brands at varying price points. However, the tests are rarely available at public clinics, leading providers to send clients to the private sector or to ask them to return during their menses. In both scenarios, women may exit the health care system without ever obtaining a family planning method.

Availability of HIV Rapid Diagnostic Tests Over the Counter

SHOPS conducted assessments of over-the-counter availability of HIV rapid diagnostic tests through private pharmacies in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda. The objective was to assess the extent to which the tests were readily accessible to and used by consumers for self-testing, in lieu of facility-based HIV testing services. The assessment revealed several findings regarding HIV rapid diagnostic tests, including their regulatory oversight, availability, source, demand, and future role.

Transitional Improved Pit Latrine

This video demonstrates the development and benefits of a customizable and upgradeable latrine designed by the SHOPS project in Malawi.

Video Transcript: Transitional Improved Pit Latrine

A transcript for the video "Transitional Improved Pit Latrine."