Background: Routine health data can guide health systems improvements, but poor quality of these data hinders use. To address concerns about data quality in Malawi, the Ministry of Health and National Statistical Office conducted a data quality assessment (DQA) in July 2016 to identify systems-level factors that could be improved.
Methods: We used 2-stage stratified random sampling methods to select health centers and hospitals under Ministry of Health auspices, included those managed by faith-based entities, for this DQA.
Background: Several years in advance of the 2015 endpoint for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Malawi was already thought to be one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa likely to meet the MDG 4 target of reducing under-5 mortality by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015. Countdown to 2015 therefore selected the Malawi National Statistical Office to lead an in-depth country case study, aimed mainly at explaining the country's success in improving child survival.
Methods: We estimated child and neonatal mortality for the years 2000-14 using five district-representative household surveys.
We evaluated the impact of integrated community case management of childhood illness (iCCM) on careseeking for childhood illness and child mortality in Malawi, using a National Evaluation Platform dose-response design with 27 districts as units of analysis. "Dose" variables included density of iCCM providers, drug availability, and supervision, measured through a cross-sectional cellular telephone survey of all iCCM-trained providers. "Response" variables were changes between 2010 and 2014 in careseeking and mortality in children aged 2-59 months, measured through household surveys.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProgram managers, investors, and evaluators need real-time information on how program strategies are being scaled up and implemented. Integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) of childhood illnesses is a strategy for increasing access to diagnosis and treatment of malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea through community-based health workers. We collected real-time data on iCCM implementation strength through cell phone interviews with community-based health workers in Malawi and calculated indicators of implementation strength and utilization at district level using consensus definitions from the Ministry of Health (MOH) and iCCM partners.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Every Newborn Action Plan calls for reducing the neonatal mortality rates to fewer than 10 deaths per 1000 live births in all countries by 2035. The current study aims to increase our understanding of the social and modifiable factors that can be addressed or reinforced to improve and accelerate the decline in neonatal mortality in Malawi.
Methods: The data come from the 2013 Verbal and Social Autopsy (VASA) study that collected data in order to describe the biological causes and the social determinants of deaths of children under 5 years of age in Balaka and Salima districts of Malawi.