Malawi introduce the VigiMobile AEFI reporting tool

Malawi has become the sixth country to introduce the VigiMobile Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI) reporting tool. Over the past years, Malawi has made tremendous strides in improving its vaccine safety surveillance system. This has been shown in its ability to meet the minimum requirement of reporting 1 serious AEFI per million population and the ability to report over 1600 AEFI between January and November 2024.

Breaking Gender barriers in Immunization

Faced by a series of public health emergencies, Wild Polio Virus Outbreak, the protracted Cholera Outbreak, COVID-19 and Post Flood Recovery, Malawi’s health care delivery including immunization was gravely impacted in 2022. Coverage of the Third dose of the DPT vaccine was at 86% the lowest since 2018. The burden of zero- dosed and under immunized populations also increased rising to from 3% in 2019 to 6% in 2022 with widened equity gaps.

A journey of selflessness and dedication to humanity: Mr Ishmael Nyasulu, WHO Malawi...

I joined the World Health Organization (WHO) Malawi country office as National Professional Officer (NPO) responsible for Tuberculosis (TB) in 2005. I had just returned from the United Kingdom where I had gone on a government of Malawi scholarship to pursue a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Leeds. I was working with the National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP) then and was very surprised that when the advert was floated, none of my senior colleagues in the programme were interested in applying but instead pleaded with me to do so.

Reaching the underserved with vaccines is a right for all

Zomba - In the remote community of Tongwe, an island on Lake Chirwa in Zomba district, Malawi, a small crowd gathers under the shade of an old mango tree as health workers prepare for the day’s vaccination drive. Among them is Mercy Simate, 34, a mother of six.  

She sits quietly, holding her four-month-old daughter, Victoria, on her lap. Today is a special day for Mercy and her youngest child. Victoria is about to receive her first doses of the Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis (DPT), Pneumococcal Conjugate, and Rotavirus vaccine. 

“A Triumph of Dedication: Eradicating Polio in Malawi”

In February 2022, a single case of Wild Polio Virus 1 sent shockwaves in Malawi, a case of a 14-year-old child in Ndirande, Blantyre changing the focus from under 5 routine immunization at birth to children aged 0-15 group as a target to combat the outbreak. The virus was genetically linked to a sequence from Pakistan, detected two years’ prior in Sindh province.