Defining optimal implementation packages for delivering community-wide mass drug administration for soil-transmitted helminths with high coverage.

Background: Recent evidence suggests that community-wide mass drug administration (MDA) may interrupt the transmission of soil-transmitted helminths (STH), a group of intestinal worms that infect 1.5 billion individuals globally. Although current operational guidelines provide best practices for effective MDA delivery, they do not describe which activities are most essential for achieving high coverage or how they work together to produce effective intervention delivery.

Preparedness for and impact of COVID-19 on primary health care delivery in urban and rural Malawi: a mixed methods study.

Objective: Across Africa, the impact of COVID-19 continues to be acutely felt. This includes Malawi, where a key component of health service delivery to mitigate against COVID-19 are the primary healthcare facilities, strategically placed throughout districts to offer primary and maternal healthcare. These facilities have limited infrastructure and capacity but are the most accessible and play a crucial role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

How useful are malaria risk maps at the country level? Perceptions of decision-makers in Kenya, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Background: Declining malaria prevalence and pressure on external funding have increased the need for efficiency in malaria control in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Modelled Plasmodium falciparum parasite rate (PfPR) maps are increasingly becoming available and provide information on the epidemiological situation of countries. However, how these maps are understood or used for national malaria planning is rarely explored.

Feeding practices and association of fasting and low or hypo glycaemia in severe paediatric illnesses in Malawi - a mixed method study.

Background: The presence of low or hypo glycaemia in children upon admission to hospital in low income countries is a marker for poor outcome. Fasting during illness may contribute to low blood glucose and caretakers' feeding practices during childhood illnesses may thus play a role in the development of low or hypo glycaemia. This study aims to describe the caretaker's feeding practices and association of fasting with low or hypo glycaemia in sick children in Malawi.

'We just dilute sugar and give' health workers' reports of management of paediatric hypoglycaemia in a referral hospital in Malawi.

Background: Acutely sick children in resource-constrained settings who present with hypoglycaemia have poor outcomes. Studies have questioned the current hypoglycaemia treatment cut-off level of 2.5 mmol/l.

Early Antiretroviral Therapy Initiation and Mortality Among Infants Diagnosed With HIV in the First 12 Weeks of Life: Experiences From Kinshasa, DR Congo and Blantyre, Malawi.

Background: Based on clinical trial results, the World Health Organization recommends infant HIV testing at age 4-6 weeks and immediate antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation in all HIV-infected infants. Little is known about the outcomes of HIV-infected infants diagnosed with HIV in the first weeks of life in resource-limited settings. We assessed ART initiation and mortality in the first year of life among infants diagnosed with HIV by 12 weeks of age.

Is it ethical to prevent secondary use of stored biological samples and data derived from consenting research participants? The case of Malawi.

Background: This paper discusses the contentious issue of reuse of stored biological samples and data obtained from research participants in past clinical research to answer future ethical and scientifically valid research questions. Many countries have regulations and guidelines that guide the use and exportation of stored biological samples and data. However, there are variations in regulations and guidelines governing the reuse of stored biological samples and data in Sub-Saharan Africa including Malawi.

Barriers to successful early infant diagnosis of HIV infection at primary care level in Malawi.

HIV-infected women seeking early infant HIV diagnosis (EID) services in Malawi were asked about factors potentially associated with returning for EID results. Many (33.3%) infants failed to complete the EID process because of time and costs required for multiple visits.

Validity of US norms for the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-III in Malawian children.

Objective: Most psychometric tests originate from Europe and North America and have not been validated in other populations. We assessed the validity of United States (US)-based norms for the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-III (BSID-III), a neurodevelopmental tool developed for and commonly used in the US, in Malawian children.

Methods: We constructed BSID-III norms for cognitive, fine motor (FM), gross motor (GM), expressive communication (EC) and receptive communication (RC) subtests using 5173 tests scores in 167 healthy Malawian children.

Implementing early infant diagnosis of HIV infection at the primary care level: experiences and challenges in Malawi.

Problem: Malawi's national guidelines recommend that infants exposed to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) be tested at 6 weeks of age. Rollout of services for early infant diagnosis has been limited and has resulted in the initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in very few infants.

Approach: An early infant diagnosis programme was launched.

The guardians' perspective on paediatric cancer treatment in Malawi and factors affecting adherence.

Background: Abandonment of paediatric cancer treatment is a common problem in developing countries. Little is known about the guardians' perspective on cancer treatment in these countries, especially the factors that affect adherence.

Methods: Following a pilot study enquiring into the possible causes of abandonment, a problem analysis diagram was drawn which helped to develop the questionnaires.

Nutritional status at admission of children with cancer in Malawi.

Background: Malnutrition at diagnosis is found in 10-50% of children with cancer in industrialized countries. In developing countries a large proportion of the normal paediatric population is undernourished and children with cancer often present late with advanced disease. Therefore it would be expected that many children with cancer are malnourished at admission.