Lilongwe, Malawi Pediatric Fund

Program sites

Emergency Fund

Data from UNICEF's 'State of the Worlds' Children 2008' highlights the pressing needs of Malawi's children:

Under 5 mortality rate: 120 per 1000
% of population living on < $1/day: 21%
% of under 5’s sleeping under mosquito net: 29%
Children with HIV/AIDS: 91,000
Orphans (all-cause): 950,000
Fertility rate: 5.7 children/female
Life expectancy at birth: 47 years

This project will support some of these children and families identified at a Lilongwe-area pediatric HIV clinic and on the pediatric wards at a regional referral hospital. These are very busy sites--the HIV clinic has over 2400 active patients and the wards have an average daily inpatient census of approximately 250 children. Patients with medical needs that cannot be fully met within the existing national health system will be considered. Identified needs include:

transportation to other locations for specialist consultation and diagnostic imaging not available in Lilongwe
formula for very young infants who are not old enough for other forms of therapeutic nutrition and are not able to breastfeed (mother is sick or has passed away)
hearing aids and eye glasses for patients with disability related to their chronic illnesses
fees for private pathology services (there is only one public pathologist in all of Malawi)

Posted 2009-04-30 13:09:50