The majority of adults who smoke cigarettes initiated the habit when they were adolescents or young adults. While rates of smoking and associated factors are known among 13-15 year olds in Malawi, correlates of cigarette smoking among adolescents in a national representative sample in Malawi have not been studied. We, therefore, carried out this study to estimate the prevalence of current smoki...

BACKGROUND In 2011, Malawi initiated an ambitious program for the prevention of maternal to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, called 'Option B+,' which employs a universal test and life-long treatment strategy for all pregnant women. Priority setting should take place in defining a national research agenda for evaluating Option B + rollout in Malawi. METHODS In April 2011, a three-day worksh...

©FSRH J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 2008: 34(2) Background Malawi is one of the countries worst hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, with an infection rate among the childbearing age group of 12.0%.1 Young people aged 15–24 years account for 46% of new HIV infections, of which 60% occur in girls. HIV prevalence is even higher in some rural districts (17.5%, p<0.01).2 In common with many other sub-Sah...

With the support of the World Health Organization's Evidence-Informed Policy Network, knowledge translation platforms have been developed throughout Africa, the Americas, Eastern Europe, and Asia to further evidence-informed national health policy. In this commentary, we discuss the approaches, activities and early lessons learned from the development of a Knowledge Translation Platform in Mala...

Dietary quality has significant implications for health, nutrition and life quality. Yet, most people in developing countries, such as Malawi, consume inadequate diets due to the high cost of healthy nutritious food. The international community called a radical transformation food systems ensure access healthier options at affordable prices. While costs affordability have recently been establis...

Abstract Assessments of land degradation vary in methodology and outcome. The objective this study is to identify the state, extent patterns Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi Tanzania). More recently (2000s), satellite-based imagery remote sensing have been utilized magnitude processes at global, regional national levels. This involves use Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) der...

Malawi has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world. One of the factors contributing to high maternal mortality is the non-use of health facilities during pregnancy and delivery. The aim of this study is to examine the factors associated with non-institutional deliveries in Malawi. Data from 2004 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey and multinomial logistic regression were used...

BACKGROUND The growing global childhood obesity pandemic has not spared low-income countries like Malawi, where 8% of children below the age of five years are overweight. Globally, regular consumption of sweetened beverages is implicated among the factors that fuel childhood obesity. Despite the growing problem, there are no local studies on any aspect of sweetened beverage consumption among ch...

Objective To find lower and upper bounds of HIV prevalence in Malawi under mild and intuitive assumptions to assess the importance of the refusal issue in the estimation of HIV prevalence. Methods We derive bounds based on the following two key assumptions: (i) Among those who have never taken an HIV test before, those who refuse to take an HIV test (hereafter “refusers”) have at least as much ...

BACKGROUND In Malawi, cervical cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer among women, with an 80% mortality rate. The Mulanje Mission Hospital has offered free cervical cancer screening for eight years; however, patients primarily seek medical help for gynecologic complaints after the disease is inoperable. METHODS We investigated how women in rural Malawi make health-seeking decisions rega...