Public Health Institute of Malawi

Day: April 1, 2021

  • Cholera cases continue to rise

    Cholera cases continue to rise.  Two hundred and sixty five (265) cumulative cases have been reported as of 15 January 2018 across the country with the highest number coming from Karonga at 196 cases.

    Other districts affected include Kasungu-1, Dowa-4, Nkhatabay-18, Lilongwe- 37, and Salima-9. However, new cases for the past five days have only been recorded in Karonga and Lilongwe.

    Since the start of the outbreak in November last year, four deaths, all from Karonga have been recorded with one community death and the other three facility deaths. It is important to note that all these deaths occurred in the initial stages of the outbreak.

    A total of 15 cholera patients are still admitted in the affected districts.

    Currently, intervention to curb the outbreak include intensive sensitization, intensive surveillance, contact follow ups, treatment of water and door to door campaigns aiming to reach out to every household.

  • 9 pathogens showing resistance to commonly used antibiotics

    9 pathogens showing resistance to commonly used antibiotics

    As part of its core duties, the National Micro-Reference Laboratory does a routine check on antibacterial resitance of various pathogens. In the first half of this year, the lab has reported that 9 pathogens are showing very high resistance to commonly used antibiotics.

    The pathogens include Methicillin-resistant Staph aureus (MRSA), Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Streptocaus pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter salmonella, Typhi and Shigella.

  • PHIM welcomes NCA members of staff

    PHIM welcomes NCA members of staff

    The Public Health Institute of Malawi (PHIM) welcomes on board two members of staff from Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) on secondment.

    Mwakamwereti Kanjo joins as the Communications Officer and is responsible for the visibility and awareness of PHIM and its programmes while Grace Funsani joins as the Surveillance Officer to strengthen and support surveillance and response at the institution.

    The two have been hired by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) through Norwegian Church Aid (NCA).

    NIPH has since 2008 supported PHIM in its establishment and is now offering technical support for the strengthening of the International Health Regulations IHR (2005) implementation.