Malawi

With the tenth highest proportion of people living with HIV and eleventh highest amount of AIDS-related deaths globally, Malawi has struggled with tackling this epidemic that has orphaned millions of children and contributed to the overwhelmingly young distribution of the population under 24 years (67%).

JSI has worked in Malawi for almost 30 years to introduce new vaccines to improve people’s health and to strengthen health systems, including supply chain logistics systems. In addition, today we are supporting facility-based tuberculosis case finding approaches through the TIFA project.

Through the USAID | DELIVER PROJECT, JSI supported USAID’s efforts to improve HIV&AIDS product availability by bolstering integrated in-country supply chains, as well as avian and pandemic influenza preparedness, and the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI). In addition to  commodities, the project addressed a number of critical public health priorities, including childhood pneumonia, malaria prevention, and supply chain systems for family planning, malaria, and essential medicines.

JSI, under USAID’s Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP), supported the Ministry of Health/Expanded Program of Immunizations to successfully introduce two vaccines (Measles Rubella and the Inactivated Polio Vaccine); implemented Reaching Every Community (REC) in two priority districts; mobilized children and tracked their immunization status using My Village My Home interactive tool; and built capacity for service providers through training health workers and health management teams.

In addition, the Strengthening Partnerships, Results, and Innovations in Nutrition Globally (SPRING) project conducted field research  to develop guidance documentation for a new nutrition-sensitive agricultural indicator required by the U.S government’s Feed the Future Initiative. For Malawi, one of the key recommendations SPRING made was to strengthen farmers’ record-keeping practices to develop their business sense when managing agricultural production and also to generate more reliable and accurate data.