The frequent power outages in Malawi pose a major challenge to providing medical care. This is especially severe in the nursery (neonatal unit) of the Phalombe District Hospital, as many premature and newborn infants rely on respiratory support (CPAP) and oxygen therapy provided through oxygen concentrators. This means that during a power outage neither respiratory support nor oxygen therapy can be ensured. Unfortunately, this has a tremendous impact on neonatal mortality... Particularly in the rainy season - which has just begun - storms and heavy rain often cause power poles to collapse, leaving the whole district without electricity, and repairs can take many hours or even several days. At present, only the operating theatre has a fuel-powered generator, but the ongoing fuel shortages pose challenges as well. We are therefore working on equipping the nursery with a solar panel system, and we are convinced that this more than urgently needed!

The donated monitors in action! At last, continuous monitoring in the pediatric intensive care unit is possible — something that is especially important for severe respiratory infections, severe malaria, tetanus, and other common conditions. We were able to successfully wean this little patient with pneumonia off oxygen therapy, and he was able to leave the hospital a few days later.

Berenike Thoma has now been at Rev. John Chilembwe Hospital for several days. As a paediatrician in Germany, she will spend most of her time on the children’s ward, delivering short training courses and exploring potential future projects. Thanks to a fundraising appeal by our former medical students @mara.prbst and Svenja Kadler, the hospital has received two additional patient monitors for the paediatric ward. We would like to express our sincere thanks to all donors for their generous contributions.

Additional patient monitors Thanks to the generous support of our members and a substantial donation from the Domröse family, we were able to provide the hospital with two more patient monitors. They were handed over by our students at the beginning of August.

„Greetings from the District Hospital Phalombe! Today we (Nora and Piera from Hamburg) arrived here at the hospital and fortunately got to meet Karl and Lisa, who have been here for the wohle of July. They showed us around and shared all their tips and insights about living and working here. We are looking forward to our time here in Malawi, everybody was very welcoming already!“

Muli Bwanji (“Hello, how are you?” in Chichewa) from the MalawiMed July team! At the beginning of the month we, Lisa, Karl (medical students from Heidelberg) and Marilyne (doctor from Switzerland) arrived at Phalombe District Hospital. We were made to feel very welcome here, both by the hospital director Dr. Grace and the whole team. It took a few days to understand the organization, but everyone was very helpful. The advanced clinical pictures and pain resistance of our patients are impressive! Thanks to Molly, we discover new dishes with local produce every day. The big highlights for us are banana cake and nsima (made from maize flour)! See you soon

Der schwierige Atemweg und insbesondere eine "can not ventilate - can not intubate" Situation ist ein gefürchtetes Ereignis im Operationssaal und in Notfallsituationen. In Deutschland steht für diesen Fall in fast allen Krankenhäusern und im vielen Rettungsdienstbereichen unterstützend ein Videolaryngoskop zur Verfügung, welches die Chance auf eine Intubation erhöhen kann. Durch eine Kamera in der Spitze des Laryngoskopes, kann die Stimmbandebene indirekt auf einem Bildschirm dargestellt werden. Mit einem konventionellen Laryngoskop ist dies nicht unbedingt sichtbar und eine Intubation bei einem schwierigen Atemweg nicht immer zu erreichen. In Malawi stand ein solches Gerät bisher nicht zur Verfügung. Wir sind froh, dem Rev. John Chilembwe Hospital ein solches Gerät spenden zu können. Während unserem Besuch erfolgte auch direkt die Einweisung in das Gerät, sowie ein erstes Training im Umgang damit. Die Anästhesisten am Krankenhaus werden den Einsatz in den nächsten Wochen auch bei Patienten mit einer einfachen Anatomie trainieren, um für den Ernstfall vorbereitet zu sein.