Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Jul 6:11:1195691.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2023.1195691. eCollection 2023.

The status of pediatric surgery in Malawi: a narrative mini-review

Celina Flocks Monaghan  1 , Chiara Pittalis  1 , Elaine Byrne  2 , Israa Hussein  3 , Tiyamike Chilunjika  4 , Bip Nandi  5   6 , Eric Borgstein  4 , Jakub Gajewski  1   7
Affiliations
Review

The status of pediatric surgery in Malawi: a narrative mini-review

Celina Flocks Monaghan et al. Front Pediatr. .

Abstract

Introduction: Pediatric surgery is essential to a well-functioning health system. Unmet surgical needs contribute to 6.7% of pediatric deaths in Malawi. Understanding the current state of pediatric surgical care in Malawi is necessary to recognize gaps and opportunities in service delivery and to develop evidence-based national planning and solutions.

Methods: This narrative mini review synthesized the literature on the state of pediatric surgery in Malawi through the pillars of the World Health Organization's Health System Building Blocks. A search of PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases was executed to identify relevant studies and a thematic analysis was performed. Further, to ensure contextual accuracy, pediatric surgeons from Malawi were consulted and involved in this review.

Results: Twenty-six papers were identified. In Malawi's central hospitals, there are six specialist pediatric surgeons for a pediatric population of more than 8 million. There is limited pediatric surgical capacity at the district hospitals. There is little to no written evidence of the national governing and finance structures in place for pediatric surgical services.

Discussion: In countries like Malawi, where a significant portion of the population comprises children, it is crucial to recognize that pediatric services are currently inadequate and fall short of the required standards. It is crucial to prioritize the enhancement of services specifically designed for this age group. This review aims to shed light on the existing gaps within pediatric surgical services in Malawi, providing valuable insights that can inform the development of comprehensive national surgical planning strategies.

Keywords: Malawi; NSOAP; global surgery; pediatric; sub-Saharan Africa; surgery.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The PRISMA flow diagram for the narrative review detailing the database searches, the number of abstracts screened, and the full texts retrieved.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Mullapudi B, Grabski D, Ameh E, Ozgediz D, Thangarajah H, Kling K, et al. Estimates of number of children and adolescents without access to surgical care. Bull W H O. (2019) 97(4):254–8. 10.2471/BLT.18.216028 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Meara JG, Leather AJM, Hagander L, Alkire BC, Alonso N, Ameh EA, et al. Global surgery 2030: evidence and solutions for achieving health, welfare, and economic development. Lancet. (2015) 386(9993):569–624. 10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60160-X - DOI - PubMed
    1. Citron I, Sonderman K, Subi L, Meara JG. Making a case for national surgery, obstetric, and anesthesia plans. Can J Anesth/J Can D'Anesth. (2019) 66(3):263–71. 10.1007/s12630-018-01269-5 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Goodman L, St-Louis E, Yousef Y, Cheung M, Ure B, Ozgediz D, et al. The global initiative for children’s surgery: optimal resources for improving care. Eur J Pediatr Surg. (2018) 28(01):051–9. 10.1055/s-0037-1604399 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Jumbam DT, Reddy CL, Roa L, Meara JG. How much does it cost to scale up surgical systems in low-income and middle-income countries? BMJ Global Health. (2019) 4(4):e001779. 10.1136/bmjgh-2019-001779 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources