BACKGROUND Early development of neurocognitive functions in infants can be compromised by poverty, malnutrition and lack of adequate stimulation. Optimal management of neurodevelopmental problems in infants requires assessment tools that can be used early in life, and are objective and applicable across economic, cultural and educational settings. OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN The present study examin...

The spread of drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria has been a major impediment to malaria control and threatens prospects for elimination. We recently demonstrated the return of chloroquine-susceptible malaria in Malawi after chloroquine use was abandoned. In this study, we trace the origins of chloroquine-resistant and chloroquine-susceptible parasites in Malawi by sequencing the P. fa...

This paper attempts to isolate the causal link of income on health status and subjective well-being for the rural population in Malawi using three waves of household panel data spanning the period 2004-2008 from the Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project (MDICP) and the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health (MLSFH). Malawi is a low-income country with high background morbidit...

Selenium (Se) is an essential human micronutrient with critical roles in immune functioning and antioxidant defence. Estimates of dietary Se intakes and status are scarce for Africa although crop surveys indicate deficiency is probably widespread in Malawi. Here we show that Se deficiency is likely endemic in Malawi based on the Se status of adults consuming food from contrasting soil types. Th...

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 regulation...

Mental health services in Malawi are centralized in the three tertiary units which are located one in each of the three regions of Malawi and this means that most people with mental health problems do not get help. With severe shortages of mental health professionals in the country, integration of mental health into existing primary and community health services is the most feasible way of incr...

The problem: High burden of undiagnosed and untreated hypertension in people living with HIV in Malawi. There is high and increasing burden of hypertension in Malawi in the general population and specifically among people living with HIV.1,2 In Malawi, 32% of the adult population have been found to be hypertensive; 94% of these patients are unaware and therefore untreated.3 In a small HIV-infec...

Seroprevelence, Resource-Poor Setting Using a New Severity Scoring Tool, the Malawi Adult Meningitis Score (MAMS) Emma Wall, MBChB, MRCP, DTM&H, MRes; Mavuto Mukaka, PhD; Matthew Scarborough, PhD; Katherine M.B. Ajdukiewicz, MD; Katharine Cartwright, MRCPath; Brian Faragher, PhD; David Lalloo, MB, BS, MD; Robert Heyderman, PhD; Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, Blanty...

Malawi is one of the countries experiencing an unprecedented HIV/AIDS epidemic in an environment where malnutrition is rampant. In 2001 Malawi started providing ARVs to HIV patients. This ARV programme is now being scaled up to cover the whole country. Since underlying malnutrition is associated with adverse ART outcomes, the Malawi government commissioned a study to design a programme for inte...

We are living in a world where the mode of thinking is being increasingly influenced by Western ideology. The discourse about personal rights is one of the consequences of Western philosophy. Malawi, a south-eastern African country, has produced a Charter of Patients and Health Workers’ Rights and Responsibilities. Implementation of this document is expected to contribute to improving the deliv...