Mapping waste piles in an urban environment using ground surveys, manual digitization of drone imagery, and object based image classification approach.

There is wide recognition of the threats posed by the open dumping of waste in the environment. However, tools to surveil interventions for reducing this practice are poorly developed. This study explores the use of drone imagery for environmental surveillance.

A first report of Biomphalaria pfeifferi in the Lower Shire Valley, Southern Malawi, a major intermediate snail host species for intestinal schistosomiasis.

The distribution of certain permissive intermediate snail host species in freshwater is a crucial factor shaping transmission of intestinal schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease that causes much human suffering in Africa. To shed new light on southern Malawi, where cases of intestinal schistosomiasis have been found, repeated malacological surveys were conducted in Chikwawa and Nsanje Districts in the Lower Shire Valley, to detect and to characterize populations of Biomphalaria, the intermediate host for intestinal schistosomiasis. Sampling took place across a total of 45 freshwater sites, noting water conductivity, pH, temperature, total dissolved salts (TDS) and geographical elevation.

Small dams drive Anopheles abundance during the dry season in a high malaria burden area of Malawi.

This study explores the influence of small dams on the exposure to malaria vectors during the dry season in Kasungu district, Malawi, an area recently identified as high priority for malaria interventions by the National Malaria Control Programme. Small dam impoundments provide communities with a continuous supply of water for domestic and agricultural activities across sub-Saharan Africa and are considered vital to food security and climate change resilience. However, these permanent water bodies also create ideal breeding sites for mosquitoes in typically arid landscapes.

Two decades of malaria control in Malawi: Geostatistical Analysis of the changing malaria prevalence from 2000-2022.

Background: Malaria remains a public health problem in Malawi and has a serious socio-economic impact on the population. In the past two decades, available malaria control measures have been substantially scaled up, such as insecticide-treated bed nets, artemisinin-based combination therapies, and, more recently, the introduction of the malaria vaccine, the RTS,S/AS01. In this paper, we describe the epidemiology of malaria for the last two decades to understand the past transmission and set the scene for the elimination agenda.

Malaria Burden Stratification in Malawi- A report of a consultative workshop to inform the 2023-2030 Malawi Malaria Strategic Plan.

Malawi's National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) is developing a new strategic plan for 2023-2030 to combat malaria and recognizes that a blanket approach to malaria interventions is no longer feasible. To inform this new strategy, the NMCP set up a task force comprising 18 members from various sectors, which convened a meeting to stratify the malaria burden in Malawi and recommend interventions for each stratum. The burden stratification workshop took place from November 29 to December 2, 2022, in Blantyre, Malawi, and collated essential data on malaria burden indicators, such as incidence, prevalence, and mortality.

Open defaecation by proxy: Tackling the increase of disposable diapers in waste piles in informal settlements.

Disposable diapers are becoming increasingly popular and present an emerging challenge for global waste management, particularly within LMICs. They offer a cheap and convenient way for caregivers to manage child excreta; however, insufficient understanding of safe disposal methods, combined with limited access to waste management services results in hazardous disposal. Used diapers are being increasingly found dumped in the open environment, including in water bodies and in open fields, leading to faecal contamination of the environment and an enhanced risk of transmission of faecal-oral diseases such as cholera and typhoid.