Medical Facilities of Malawi

Hi everyone. My name is Emily Kinsella, one of the UK volunteers here in Zomba Malawi; and the editor in chief of the team Zomba Plateaupus blog.

And I have a confession to make. I was absolutely terrified to come on placement to Malawi. Why you might ask? Hospitals or potential lack of medical facilities. The image that I got from the media before I came here portrayed medical care as sparse, scarce and basic. It was also implied from several sources that if you become seriously ill while you were travelling in Africa you were in trouble.

I am a very accident prone severe asthmatic, I was surprised that I was allowed to come on placement, and if anyone was going to need to visit a hospital during our time in Malawi it was likely to be me. And sure enough I did, within in the first four days of our stay.

There was an outbreak of food poisoning within the group; which I am informed is quite rare for Malawi despite perceptions. At least that’s what the doctor told me he thought it was. Whatever it was quite frankly I have never longed-for death more in my life than I did the night of the outbreak. With a 40-degree fever I started to hallucinate that Liane and Samson had ceased to be our team leaders and they had given the job to me. My first task was to distribute the lunch stipend amongst the team; the task was made even more difficult as our ranks had swelled to 40 strong instead of ten including the team leaders, and the only assistant was a six-foot three blonde rugby player called Adam. I’m still confused about the character of Adam as there is no one that answers to that description here in the Malawi cohort or that I know back in the UK. However, this figment of my imagination was very pleasant and helpful.

The next morning it was quickly decided that the afflicted volunteers and team leaders would need to go to hospital and that we couldn’t travel down to our placement locations in this state. I distinctly remember thinking to myself that it seemed a sensible suggestion for others who were more ill than I was but I did not need to go I would be fine in a few hours. I was trying to help Diana, my teammate, pack my suitcase ready to leave the lodge but I couldn’t stand properly and just kept falling back onto the floor so resorted to crawling round picking up objects; then curling up on the floor and whimpering like a kicked puppy.

After several hours of this- more likely half an hour- Lena (one of the International Service staff in Lilongwe) appeared to take the ill to the hospital. At the hospital a nurse asked if I would like to sit in the waiting room and wait for the doctor or would I like a bed to lie on. This sounded like the best idea I had heard in ages. The hospital was clean and quiet. A nurse appeared quickly to take blood samples to try and find the problem. The doctor then visited and recommended a drip. The nurse whose name was Stella and was one of the nicest nurses I have ever met and was very sympathetic to our plight, told me they were using the smallest needles the same ones they use on new-born babies as she noticed I had gone even paler than I was before as I really don’t like needles. We were discharged after 2 IVS each, some injectable antibiotics to help kill the infection, some more antibiotics to tackle the infection after we had gone home and sent to bed at International Services office.

Picture 1: A Malawian drip- more specifically my drip while recuperating in hospital from the food poisoning.

Picture 2: Bryn, Liane and I. Recuperating with snacks in Lilongwe after the food poisoning.

I have managed to visit the hospital five times in the duration of placement; salmonella poisoning, soft tissue damage, anaemia, lung infection and an asthma attack. Each time the doctors have been patient and kind and tried to solve the problem as quickly as possible which was all was needed. The hospitals are different in layout to the ones in the UK but efficient.

So, I am happy to report that anyone else who is worried about coming to Malawi and the medical facilities should not worry too much and come to the warm heart of Africa. You won’t regret it.