Botswana: The government of Malawi hosted a three-day Country Peer Learning workshop on Malaria Vaccine. The Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe was the venue for the event attended by several healthcare stakeholders.
Health program managers from 21 countries gathered in Lilongwe to participate in the workshop. During the three workshop they observed and learn from Malawi’s success in malaria vaccine rollout.
The officials have shared that the workshop was an intercountry peer learning initiative. The workshop was part of the Accelerating Malaria Vaccine Introduction and Rollout in Africa (AMVIRA) program.
WHO and PATH have extended their support to Malawi for the successful rollout of the vaccination initiative. The aim of the collaboration is to bridge gaps and share best practices for malaria vaccine rollout.
The healthcare stakeholders have shared that the implementation of the initiative is important for Africa. Notably, Africa bears 94% of the global malaria burden and has continued to report large numbers of cases.
Malawi is one of the first countries to pilot the RTS,S/AS01 Malaria vaccine in 2019. In the last half a decade, the nation has successfully vaccinated over 400,000 children.
Participants of the workshop visited the Chileka Health Centre to observe Malawi’s effective integration of malaria vaccination. They were accompanied by several members of health services department of Malawi. The participants learned about data management and coordination to maintain vaccine supply and coverage.
This visit aimed at providing firsthand insights into the strategies and challenges that have marked Malawi’s malaria vaccine program.
During the visit, participants learned about the specific challenges Malawi faced in the implementation of the initiative. The Challenges included Coordinating the malaria vaccine schedule with other childhood vaccinations.
Malawi’s solution involved extensive community education to ensure parents were aware of the vaccination timelines.
One of the key takeaways for the visiting health officials was Malawi’s meticulous planning and robust community engagement. The country’s approach ensured that malaria programs and vaccination initiatives worked seamlessly together.
This helped the administration in maximizing the reach and effectiveness of the initiative for the people of Malawi. Michael Baganizi, the program manager of the Extended Program on Immunization (EPI) in Uganda, praised Malawi’s efforts.
The successful implementation of the malaria vaccine program in Malawi has been possible due to several aspects. the support of the government and PATH played a very important role.