The World Health Organisation (WHO) has commended Malawi for making progress in several key health indicators.
It cites inroads made in polio eradication, HIV treatment, maternal and newborn health services, disease surveillance and cholera control, even after facing economic hardships, climate shocks and disease outbreaks.
During the past six years, Malawi has also been facing the Covid challenge.
This is contained in the WHO Malawi Annual Report for 2025.
The report was released on June 1, 2026.
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According to the report, Malawi registered notable improvements in maternal and child health over the past decade.
Maternal mortality declined from 439 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015-16 to 224 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2024, while neonatal mortality dropped from 27 to 24 deaths per 1,000 live births over the same period.
“The trends in Malawi’s maternal mortality ratio have been reducing since 2015-16 to 2024. There has also been a decrease in neonatal deaths, child mortality and fertility rates,” the report reads.
WHO also highlights Malawi’s achievements in disease prevention and control, including maintaining high routine immunisation coverage, with DPT3 coverage at 94 percent and measles-rubella first dose coverage at 89 percent.
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“The National Human Papillomavirus multi-age cohort vaccination campaign reached over two million adolescent girls in a single, well-coordinated effort, a historic milestone— accelerating progress toward cervical cancer elimination. WHO provided technical leadership in campaign design, health worker training, data systems strengthening and real-time monitoring, demonstrating that adolescent immunisation at scale is both feasible and impactful,” the report reads.
The report says Malawi also attained the UNAIDS 95-95-95 HIV treatment targets despite reductions in funding from the United States Government.
Malawi has also been lauded for strengthening its capacity to respond to public health emergencies.
Among the milestones recorded during the year were the development of Malawi’s first fully costed five-year National Action Plan for Health Security, the containment of a cholera outbreak within six months and the establishment of the country’s first Mpox Treatment Centre at Kamuzu Central Hospital within 48 hours of the first confirmed case.
WHO further notes that Malawi achieved 99.6 percent Mpox testing coverage, the highest in the African region, and became the first country in Africa.
