Mental health is a critical issue in Malawi as well as globally; with up to 1.1 billion people affected by mental or substance use disorders. In Malawi, mental health services have not been adequately integrated into primary health care where it is estimated up to 35% of patients seeking care have untreated mental health disorders. Stigma, lack of knowledge, and a scarcity of mental health professionals limits access to much-needed services while the need, especially in the face of health crises like COVID-19, is significant.

Very few institutions are equipped to train specialized mental health professionals. Additionally, health workers are often not empowered or trained to address critical mental health issues among the general population. To close these gaps, Seed partnered with St. John of God College of Health Sciences (SJOG) to strengthen mental health education and advocate for policies to better integrate mental health services into primary care delivery. 

In October, Seed’s Nursing and Midwifery Advisor Margaret Phiri, Associate Director of Primary Care and Community Health Nursing Dr. Kate York, and SJOG Principal of Nursing Zelipher Chimlala created workshops to share teaching strategies with mental health faculty at the college. The sessions included short lectures on evidence-based teaching and ways to incorporate new methodologies in the classroom to enhance student learning. As part of our partnership, Seed will continue to collaborate with SJOG and local faculty to refine the curriculum modules. 

We can improve service delivery through the increased training of mental health workers and integration of mental health diagnosis, prevention, and management skills into the training of all cadres of the workforce, particularly at the primary level so that more people are assisted.

To mitigate potential setbacks on progress made in maternal, newborn, and child health in Malawi, Seed provided technical assistance to the MOH in the development of national COVID-19 maternal, newborn, and child health protocols. These guidelines were distributed to all 28 districts in the country to ensure that health workers were equipped to provide safe and high-quality care to mothers and babies in their communities during the pandemic. 

In Blantyre, Seed supported Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in training 360 health workers on COVID-19 facility preparedness; screening and triage; sample collection and handling; critical care; and infection prevention and control. Our goal was to prepare health workers across all departments at the hospital for their active involvement in the pandemic response. A pre and post training assessment showed an average increase of 79 percent in health worker knowledge and skills on COVID-19 case management. Equipped with needed information, the participants improved health service delivery at the facility.