Public Health Institute of Malawi

Author: Moses Nyambalo Phiri

  • Handover ceremony of High-speed Starlink internet and Pathogen genomics bioinformatics equipment at the Public Health Laboratory, PHIM.

    Handover ceremony of High-speed Starlink internet and Pathogen genomics bioinformatics equipment at the Public Health Laboratory, PHIM.

    The Public Health Laboratory (PHL) is a division in the Public Health Institute of Malawi (PHIM).. PHL is a specialized laboratory system that offers advanced essential public health laboratory leadership through science and services. To achieve the goals the PHL requires strong leadership, professional staff, strong collaboration with partners and stakeholders and advanced technology. Partners like the World Bank, Africa Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (AfCDC) and, African Society of Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) have come in to assist in PHL services by adding human resources and equipment.

    On 1st June 2024 the African Society of Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) donated 3 high-speed desktop computers, 2 high-speed laptops and a server to be used in the data processing, especially in genome sequencing and bioinformatics that generate a huge amount of data.The ceremony was presided over by the Deputy Director responsible for the PHL assisted by Dr Mirriam Nyenje the head of NGSRL.

    The Deputy Director appreciates the performance of one of the unpacked high-speed laptops.
    The Deputy Director responsible for the Public Health  Laboratory and Dr. Mirriam Nyenje head of the National Genomics Sequencing Reference Laboratory receiving equipment from the ASLM representative.

    Among the items donated by ASLM was a high-performance SpaceX’s Starlink Mobile RV Satellite Internet Kit. In his appreciation speech, Mr Joseph Bitilinyu Bangoh thanked ASLM for this timely donation which will improve the network required for the sequencing and bioinformatics Illumina machines for sequencing and bioinformatics. Starlink has high-speed internet for Basespase, a software that analyses sequencing data on the Illumina machines. This means that Malawi will have enhanced genomic surveillance for various pathogens and the turnaround time for the results will be improved.

    Unpacked Starlink internet package ready for installation.

    Immediately after the reception of the items the Stalink internet kits were installed by the local engineer paid for by ASLM. Smilingly Dr Mirriam Nyenje the head of NGSRL in Malawi thanked ASLM for the work and the support of the items to the installation stage. She happily said that Malawi will benefit a lot and that science will be at work.

    The Deputy Director Mr Bitilinyu Bango appreciates the installation of the high-speed Starlink internet items while the installation technician explains the specifications

    The Starlink internet could reach the downloading speed of 89.25 Megabytes per second. After installation and activation, the internet started working at a very high speed and Illumina NeqSeq 1000 responded well to Dragen Software promising a good future sequencing and bioinformatics.

  • NHSRC Guidelines Review Workshop – Gap Analysis

    NHSRC Guidelines Review Workshop – Gap Analysis

    The research division in the Public Health Institute of Malawi, Ministry of Health conducted a gap analysis exercise with the aim of analyzing the gaps that the old guidelines have, informing from time, experiences and recent studies.

    This activity created a good platform to see research findings being translated into practice in form of guiding the daily conduct of activities, it brought together national research institutions to see and analyze the gaps that exist and create way forward and put together key thought that can be used to update the old guidelines which are no longer practical.

    A gap analysis document was produced that compiled all gaps observed in the old guidelines which is to be used in the formulation of the updated guidelines

    The exercise was conducted in order to have baseline information that can be used to update the NHSRC guidelines to inform and guide the current practice.

  • Mentorship and Supervision of Facilities on Pathogen Genomic Surveillance of Public Health Importance

    Mentorship and Supervision of Facilities on Pathogen Genomic Surveillance of Public Health Importance

    The team, Rumphi District Hospital staff, and the Deputy Director responsible for the NPHL, Mr Joseph Bitilinyu Bangoh.

    The Ministry of Health, through the Public Health Institute of Malawi (PHIM), has an established National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL). One of the crucial functions of NPHL is to conduct surveillance of various pathogens that pose a significant risk to public health. This vital task involves submitting isolates collected from laboratories across Malawi to the National Microbiology Laboratory, a section of NPHL, for confirmation, which are then shared with the Genomics Laboratory for sequencing and bioinformatics to determine the phylogeny, violence factors and resistance genes to known antimicrobials and diagnostic tests. The findings, crucial for public health decision-making, are disseminated to a wide range of public health experts and stakeholders, underscoring the importance of this surveillance process.

    The teams received a warm welcome from the teams at Atupere Community Hospital in Karonga.

    In an integrative effort, NGSRL and other sections of NPHRL planned to mentor and supervise facilities on genomic sample collection and transportation for various pathogens of public health across Malawi. The team interacted with the laboratory and top hospital staff as a way of sensitisation on genomic surveillance, focusing on optimising sample collection and basic microbiology. The team also discussed the laboratory’s strengths and challenges, particularly in handling samples that require sequencing. The teams collected samples from laboratories that kept isolates that required confirmation and genomics intervention to NPHRL for further analysis.

    The Deputy Director, Mr Joseph Bitilinyu Bangoh, was actively involved in the exercise and tirelessly visited teams across Malawi and, at one point, interacted with staff at Rumphi District Hospital to emphasise the importance of genomics pathogen surveillance. He stressed the need to lobby for more laboratory staff to be deployed to refurbished laboratories in health centres and rural hospitals, with the example of Luzi, Mhuju, which has no laboratory technicians, and Bolero, with only one laboratory technician despite the heavy workload. He gave a tip that this could be through Human Resource Officers to the local government, which District Commissioners have all the powers. He added that if this could happen in Malawi, a cry for laboratorians’ lack of jobs could be minimised and quality work in peripheral laboratories would improve.