Gorey Malawi Health Partnership
Improving clinical care and education for chronic diseases in Malawi
The Gorey-Malawi Health Partnership was formed in May 2016 and is the clinical partner of the gHealth Research Group
Following a detailed needs assessment undertaken in May 2016 the area of chronic diseases (or non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as they are called in Malawi) was identified as an area of great need for Malawian healthcare.
Indeed the WHO has estimated that 16 million people die prematurely worldwide – before the age of 70 – from heart and lung diseases, stroke, cancer and diabetes. NCDs are now the leading causes of death globally, and nearly three quarters of these deaths occur in low and middle income countries.
Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world and has a population of 16 million people. A survey conducted by the WHO in 2009 showed that 33% of people aged 25-64 years had high blood pressure but 75% were unaware of this. It was estimated that 5.6% of the population had diabetes and 5.1% had asthma and yet there are no programmes for the prevention and control of asthma.
The Palms GP Surgery has been developing initiatives to improve the care of these conditions with its partners in Europe and Malawi.
What do we want to do?
The Palms GP Surgery with its academic partners in Europe and clinical partners in Malawi has been developing research and practical implementation strategies over the past 12 months.
Two visits have been made to Malawi. Reciprocal visits to the Palms GP Surgery from the Director of Non Communicable Diseases in the Malawian Ministry of Health and the Director of Education form Mzuzu Central Hospital.
Our Malawian partners have identified asthma as a priority need and we have agreed to this as our initial working project.
This will focus on two area in Northern Malawi – Mzuzu, which is the major city of Northern Malawi, and Livingstonia which is in a remote rural area. This will allow development of strategies relevant to all contexts in Malawi.
Following the development of this intitiative it will allow expansion to other conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and hypertension.