Improving health services for young people, mothers and newborns in Malawi

Context

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world and its health system is severely underfunded. There is a lack of high-quality, gender-sensitive and respectful sexual and reproductive health services, such as prenatal care, neonatal care and cervical cancer screening. This limits the right to sexual and reproductive self-determination – especially for women. It also leads to higher maternal and newborn mortality, a large number of teenage pregnancies, and rapid population growth.

The knowledge and skills of managers and health professionals must be developed in order to improve the planning, coordination, management and quality of these health services.

Objective

Selected districts in Malawi offer high-quality sexual and reproductive health services for women and young people with and without disabilities.

Approach

The project works with Malawi’s Ministry of Health and Mchinji, Lilongwe, Dedza and Ntcheu district councils to better plan, coordinate and deliver services relating to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). In line with Malawi’s National Health Sector Strategic Plan III, this includes:

• Developing the skills of health professionals in the primary care sector and in specialist areas so that gender-sensitive and youth-friendly health services can be offered
• Creating a performance and quality management system so that health services can be better planned, coordinated, implemented and monitored
• Conducting patient surveys to monitor whether services are youth-friendly, gender-sensitive and respectful

Last update: September 2024