Malawi, 4 others seek to close emergency health gaps

Malawi and four other African countries have embarked on a training of healthcare workers to strengthen emergency preparedness and protect women and girls from preventable deaths and sexual and reproductive health risks during disasters.

Ministry of Health and Sanitation Principal Secretary (Administration) Bestone Chisamile said in Lilongwe yesterday that the country’s exposure to floods, cyclones, droughts, disease outbreaks and displacement made it essential to maintain life-saving health services during crises.

Chikwawa in the Shire River Basin is prone to flooding

He said at the opening of a five-day regional training of trainers on the Minimum Initial Service Package (Misp) for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Emergencies that pregnancy and childbirth continued during emergencies, while the risks of sexual violence, unintended pregnancies and HIV and Aids transmission remained high.

“Our expectation is that this training will translate into practical measures to strengthen emergency referral systems, maintain access to contraception and HIV services, provide emergency maternal and newborn care and improve responses to sexual and gender-based violence,” said Chisamile.

He stressed that effective implementation of Misp required coordination among health authorities, disaster management agencies, gender and protection services, partners and communities.

World Health Organisation (WHO) country representative Charles Kuria Njuguna said stronger preparedness could reduce preventable deaths, speed up emergency responses and minimise the financial and socioeconomic disruption caused by crises.

“Our target is zero preventable maternal and neonatal deaths. Resilient health systems must be able to manage emergencies while continuing to provide essential services, including care for survivors of rape,” he said.

Njuguna identified disease surveillance, community involvement, scalable clinical care and reliable medical supply chains as key components of emergency preparedness.

WHO Fragile Conflicts and Vulnerable Settings regional lead Magdalene Armah said the region needed to develop sufficient local expertise to respond to emergencies without relying heavily on personnel brought in from elsewhere.

“One of the regional issues we have is trying to get the required numbers so that when we have an emergency they can be responded to appropriately,” she said.

Armah said the training will develop a pool of trainers to build the capacity of health workers in their respective countries, strengthen national response systems and promote the sharing of experiences and good practices.

The training will close on October 16 2026 and has drawn participants from Malawi, Botswana, Lesotho, Eritrea and Eswatini.

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