Amref Health Africa Malawi has trained healthcare workers in Chikwawa District on immunisation services.
Speaking on Wednesday during the training, Amref country director Hester Nyasulu stressed the need to scale up immunisation in communities.
He said through a one-year Fighting Vaccine Preventable Diseases Project, the organisation will train frontline healthcare workers, including health surveillance assistants (HSAs).
workers. | Wisdom Chirombo
Nyasulu said this was in line with the country’s objective to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
He said: “In Malawi, HSAs are the backbone of the community health system, yet many of them face critical capacity gaps that hinder their ability to meet evolving community health needs, particularly in immunisation services. So, the project builds on the success of its predecessor, the Health Workforce Project, which supported the comprehensive training of 497 HSAs in Malawi.
“These HSAs have since been officially recognised by the Medical Council of Malawi [MCM].”
Mapelera Health Centre senior disease and control surveillance assistant Willy Limited said through previous trainings, the facility was improving in the provision of immunisation services to children.
“Our target is to vaccinate 60 under-five children every month. In April, we vaccinated 49 children and in May we vaccinated 54 children,” he said.
One of the participants Malita Diness said the training will help them support the community in clearing myths surrounding the immunisation services.
Amref in partnership with the Ministry of Health is implementing the project in Chikwawa, Zomba, Machinga, Mangochi and Salima with funding from the Pfizer Foundation
