Implementation of Mobile Health Initiatives in Malawi

Malawi has been implementing mobile health (mHealth) model for close to five years. This was aimed to address the challenges of access to accurate, timely information and healthcare services to the people and bridge the gap of health service delivery disparities that currently exist in the country. This chapter reviews the mHealth initiatives being implemented in the country by drawing two case studies into context: Chipatala Cha Pa Foni (CCPF) Project for improving Maternal, New born, and Child Health (MNCH) and Rapid SMS Project for improving the Child Nutrition Surveillance. The chapter also examines the success stories registered in the implementation of the projects; and identifies the challenges that hampered the adoption and scalability of the mHealth projects. Based on the challenges, the chapter makes recommendation that Malawi and other developing countries may adopt for scaling up or replicating similar mHealth programmes. The chapter is based on literature review and the author's points of view.