Malawi Clinics

Vaccinating children in Africa and Mexico against one of the most common causes of diarrhoea – a germ called rotavirus – has been shown to cut cases of diarrhoea and reduce deaths from diarrhoea-related illness in children. Recent research has confirmed the potential of the new rotavirus vaccine.

Men being principle decision makers in our society have very important roles to play in efforts to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality rate. However, our hospital setting seems to be unfriendly evidenced by very few men who attend antenatal clinic with their wives. This leaves them out of safe motherhood education.

To narrate the whole story, men are expected  to shoulder the responsibility to make sure that before a woman gets pregnant, the family should be ready with the following to mention but a few:

The decision maker to the wife’s family and the man as a father will not go away up to the time when the woman will deliver, offering support and care. This is to evade the situation whereby a woman delivers at home or on the way delayed by waiting for the husband to come and okay her going to the hospital. They should decide where the woman will deliver, prepare transport save enough money in case of emergency. He should also see that there is enough food to cater for the family’s nutritional needs; since the woman will need nutritious food for successful gestation period and puerperium.

They then should decide where they can get blood in case need be and prepare to go for HIV, VDRL, Hb tests beforehand. They should also discuss the family planning method they will use after delivery and their reproductive goals.

For this to materialize let us find men where they are and teach them. In this regard I call upon Policy Makers and all of us to make policies that ensure men are empowered to be in the forefront in this matter, and we all take pregnancy issues our issues too respectively.

To find men, we can forget their attending the clinics but use HAS’s, Peer Educators, Marriage Counselors, teachers, print and electronic media to teach the community about safe motherhood and reproductive goals. Emphasis should be if the family is unable to meet the above conditions to wait when they will be ready.

By D. Kalimbira

Post partum haemorrhage is a leading cause of maternal death in Malawi. If available, Oxytocin can be injected after delivery of the baby to reduce the risk of haemorrhage. Oxytocin is injected intravenously, and thus requires venous access and skilled birth attendants. Misoprosol can be administered sublingually and thus could be given by birth attendants ina variety of environments. A recent trial published in the Lancet, based on work from Burkina Faso, Egypt, Turkey and Vietnam showed the two treatments to be equally effective. Has anyone experience of using sublingual Misoprostol in Malawi?

The Scotland Malawi Partnership (SMP) has updated and relaunched its website. Click the blue hyperlink to check out the changes. It is a useful forum for news, learning more about other projects, and source documents. The Twinning Clinics Project is proud to support SMP.

Scots are apparently turning out in numbers to cheer on the Malawi football team when matches are shown on TV.  The ‘tartan army’,  as Scots fans are known, will try to shout loud enough in Glasgow to be heard in Angola.

As part of an ongoing exchange programme between the University of Dundee, Scotland and The University of Malawi College of Medicine two Malawian students visited Scotland in nov-dec 2009. Yasin and Shaffi joined the Dundee Final Year Medical Course for 2 months.

Are there any clinicians with an interest in Dermatolgoy who would be interested in developing links with clinicians in Scotland. There may be an opportunity for sharing of skills, pictures, advice and training with one of Scotland’s Dermatology centres. Please post a comment if so.

A clinical question for clinicians in Malawi and Scotland (and other places too). This week I saw a lady, 20 weeks pregnant, recently returned from sub-sarharan Africa, who presented with a cough, myalgia and a high temperature. Scotland is in the midst of the H1N1 pandemic and pregant ladies are at high risk of complications, so we have a low threshold for using anti-viral drugs. The decision to use these has to be made quickly, sometimes before laboratory confirmation is available. But how do we know it is not Malaria? Does the pattern of pyrexia give a clue? I’d be keen to hear from colleagues in Malawi how they approach this problem.

Find out more about Public Health and Policy by tracking what is happening on other Blogs. Malawi Clinics are listed as one of 50 excellent Blogs by RN Central.

An unknown outbreak has registered 133 cases, 95 in Malawi and 38 in bordering country-Mozambique. According to the Nation Newspaper of Friday 24 July 2009, Secretary for Health, Chris Kang’ombe  said the disease has so far killed 17, nine from Malawi and eight from Mozambique since May this year.

Five American health specialists arrived in the country. The Nation Newspaper said a press release from the American Embassy in Lilongwe said Malawi formally requested epidemiological aid assistance from the US Government on July 15.

In the first place samples were sent to South Africa. New samples have been again taken and sent to the Centre for the Disease Control in the USA for analysis.

The disease symptoms are a stiff neck, dehydration, fever, headache, joints pain, abdominal discomfort and loss of voice.