Herbal Medicine, Diabetes Care at Primary Care Facilities and Prevention of Vertical HIV Transmission

In this September 2021 issue of the Malawi Medical Journal, three articles which attracted my attention are those by Mbali et al, Zimba et al, and Pfaff et al. Perhaps as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal, I should endeavor to be impartial and “love” all the articles the same. This time however, I have selected these articles because they touch on important health issues in Malawi, with Mbali et al, reporting on the use of herbal medicines among individuals living with HIV and receiving life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART)

Is contagion having the last word?

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease it causes, i.e. Covid-19 outbreak1, emerged around the same time I had just finished teaching postgraduate students on two widely presented models: the epidemiologic and the demographic transitions2,3. In our discussions, we tackled the classical presentations of these two models. The epidemiologic transition posits that as countries become more developed, infectious or communicable diseases contribute a smaller proportion of their overall mortality while non-communicable diseases predominate

To screen, or not to screen for SARS-Cov2

One of the trappings, if not a burden, to Editors-in-Chief (EIC) of many medical journals is that one is expected to write editorials. Thus attempting to speak from the Mount, the EIC has the opportunity to identify one or more issues they think is/are important for the readership at that time or had been in the past or for the future

Recent changes in the Malawi Health System: A time for reflection

In this editorial I intend to present a summary of the key issues which have happened in the health sector in Malawi up to the end of 2019. I do believe doing so not only preserves the record but also encourages discussion and debate that may impact the health sector

Explaining the gender disparities in SARS-Cov 2 infection and Covid-19 Disease in Malawi

Global Covid-19 data show that there is higher morbidity and mortality among males compared to females1-3. Why, is this the case, and what needs to be done to save lives? Alternatively is this a situation where the observed status is only good for reporting but not worth interventions

Decolonising the medical literature: We are not just a low-resource setting

I was appointed the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of the Malawi Medical Journal (MMJ), a periodical of the Malawi College of Medicine (www.medcol.mw) and the Medical Association of Malawi (MAM) in February 2019. It is a daunting task certainly to be at the helm of such a prestigious medical journal indexed in/by almost all the databases that matter in medical publishing. Our journal has published since the 1970s, first as the Medical Quarterly, and later as the Malawi Medical Journal

The Kamuzu University of Health Sciences: a “semi” new university is born in Malawi

Community Health Workers (CHWs) have been identified On 4th May 2021, a new university, the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) started its operations in Malawi following the notice of its commencement by the Ministry of Education. The (semi) new university emerged from the amalgamation of two (former) constituent colleges of the University of Malawi (UNIMA), i.e. the Kamuzu College of Nursing (KCN) and the College of Medicine (CoM)

HIV and AIDS risk perception among sex workers in semi-urban Blantyre, Malawi

Background: Several health behaviour theories propose that risk perception affects the likelihood of behaviour intentions and practice. The perception of risk to HIV and AIDS among female sex workers in Malawi has not been well described. Yet knowledge of how this most at risk population perceives contagion could help in informing the design, implementation and monitoring of interventions.Methods: A cross sectional, qualitative study was conducted among female sex workers in Blantyre, Malawi between 2013 and 2014. Snowballing technique was used to recruit study participants. In depth interviews were done by six trained female research assistants among 45 female sex workers. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis.Results: There were mixed perceptions of risk to HIV infection among the sampled sex workers. While some of the study participants perceived themselves as at higher risk of acquiring infection, some considered themselves to be at no higher risk than the general population. Some study participants suggested that married women in stable relationship were at higher risk of infection than the female sex workers. Prayer and belief in God were reported to be protective from HIV acquisition while predestination or mere talking about HIV was perceived to result in vulnerability to infection. In terms of overall knowledge about HIV, this was assessed as high. Several barriers to consistent condom use were reported: non-availability at all times, high cost and unacceptable instructions of the female condom, offers of higher pay for unprotected sex by male clients and harassment and forced unprotected sex by police.Conclusions: We have reported expression of dissonance, fatalism and predestination among female sex workers in semi-urban Malawi is responses to the threat of HIV. There is need to develop context-specific safer sex programs among female sex worker in Malawi