Malawi's Ministry of Health is scaling up the PEN-Plus initiative to decentralize care for severe noncommunicable diseases, according to the World Health Organization. Supported by the World Diabetes Foundation and UNICEF, the program will expand to 26 district and community hospitals across three regions over the next five years. The initiative provides free care for conditions such as sickle cell disease and diabetes at intermediate-level facilities. Health officials state this expansion will reduce travel costs for rural families and ease congestion at central referral centers like Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe.
In separate public health developments, a new study published in The Lancet confirms that the RTS,S malaria vaccine has reduced early childhood mortality. According to a May 8 report by The BMJ, the vaccine averted approximately 13 percent of child deaths among eligible age groups during a four-year pilot program in Malawi, Ghana, and Kenya. The evaluation also noted that the vaccine rollout did not decrease the use of other prevention measures, such as insecticide-treated nets, nor did it affect the uptake of routine childhood immunizations.