Pandemic fund project - Malawi
HPV awareness and vaccination for cervical cancer prevention, July 2024. © WHO / Francisco María Galeazzi
Malawi
Malawi faces intersecting climate, health and economic challenges. Ranked among the world’s 10 poorest countries and classified as being in debt distress, over 70% of Malawi’s rural population depends on agriculture, leaving it highly vulnerable to climate shocks. Recent droughts, floods and cyclones have had devastating impacts on livelihoods and public health, straining an already fragile health system.
ALLOCATION
US$ 2.7 M
PARTNERS
Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHES), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Network of Journalists Living with HIV (JONEHA)
NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE
Chairperson: Secretary for Health
Co-chairperson: WHO Representative
First convened on 10 Sep 2025
Climate-related health challenges
Ranked fifth on the Climate Risk Index for most-affected countries, Malawi is experiencing increasing severe and frequent climate-related events. These include droughts that worsen food and water insecurity, floods that displace communities and trigger cholera and malaria outbreaks, and cyclones that overwhelm national response systems.
These hazards are compounded by undernutrition, limited infrastructure and overburdened health services. The convergence of food insecurity, infectious disease and climate change poses a growing threat. Additionally, Malawi is among the top 50 countries most vulnerable to infectious disease threats, with porous borders increasing the risk of cross-border disease transmission.
Early warning and disease surveillance systems
To address these threats, Malawi will enhance its integrated disease surveillance by:
- Expanding environmental and genomic surveillance to track climate-sensitive diseases
- Operationalizing a national early warning and pandemic response plan, linked to existing initiatives such as the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DODMA) and the Community-Based Flood Early Warning System (CBFEWS-Malawi).
- Integrating food security and nutrition indicators into the Early Warning, Alert and Response System (EWARS).
- Training health and One Health workers on indicator- and event-based surveillance (IBS and EBS), particularly at the community level.
- Upgrading digital platforms for real-time reporting of zoonotic and climate-sensitive diseases.
- Holding regular cross-border surveillance and joint planning sessions to manage transboundary health threats.
- Customizing and integrating One Health reporting tools and systems to OHSP (MAHIS, ICHIS, WHONET/AMR, GIS HUB).
Laboratory systems
To strengthen diagnostic capacity, Malawi will:
- Expand laboratory capacity across human, animal and environmental health sectors through procurement of critical equipment and services.
- Establish Laboratory Information Management Systems, biorepositories and sample tracking software.
- Review, update, and operationalize the integrated specimen referral system guidelines.
- Train personnel in biosafety, bioinformatics and genomics.
- Implement biosafety and biosecurity guidelines and seek accreditation for key laboratories.
- Develop water quality monitoring systems as part of climate-resilient surveillance.
- Finalize and roll out Biosafety and Biosecurity guidelines.
Strengthening human resources and public health workforce
Human resources for health will be bolstered through:
- Development & dissemination of costed National Multisectoral Health Workforce Strategy.
- A One Health National Bridging Workshop to guide the development of a joint strategy.
- Standardized training on International Health Regulations (IHR), disaster risk management and emergency preparedness.
- Rollout of the Field Epidemiology Training Programme (FETP) for points of entry and emergency personnel.
- Training rapid response teams (RRTs) at national and district levels.
- Developing a national surge workforce strategy and creating a Health Emergency Leaders Network aligned with the Global Health Emergency Corps.
Other goals
Malawi will also invest in:
- Support development of National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS).
- Strengthening public health emergency operations centres (PHEOCs), including peer learning, digital tools and simulation exercises.
- Leadership development and regional knowledge-sharing platforms.