Malawi moves ahead with national scale-up of PEN-Plus
The Malawi PEN-Plus Steering Committee held its first meeting on 16 September 2021. The Steering Committee will oversee implementation of the Malawi PEN-Plus Operational Plan adopted in May. The Plan maps out the steps in governance, clinical implementation, infrastructure, staffing and training, supply chain, monitoring and evaluation, and financing that will be required to scale up implementation of the PEN-Plus model for integrated chronic care services for severe NCDs at rural district hospitals nationwide.
Steering Committee members include key stakeholders from the Malawi Ministry of Health, Partners in Health, and the NCDI Poverty Network, as well as district leaders, health experts, and educators who have experience implementing PEN-Plus. The introductory meeting planned the way forward for PEN-Plus scale-up across the country and established the Steering Committee’s Terms of Reference.
Next Steps
The Operational Plan calls for expanding from two clinics in the South to 18 hospitals in all three regions of the country by 2023 and a total of 56 in 2026. As the next step, a Steering Committee team will visit the Salima and Karonga districts to discuss plans for establishing two new PEN-Plus clinics with local leaders. In Neno to the South, two existing PEN-Plus clinics currently provide vital NCDI services in one of country’s poorest and most remote districts. Salima and Karonga have been strategically selected as sites of future PEN-Plus clinics and training centers to expand access to care for NCDI patients in Central and Northern Malawi.
“It’s amazing to see how much progress has been made in Neno, but there is still much work to be done throughout the country,” said Todd Ruderman, NCD Physician for Partners in Health Malawi. “All too often the health needs of NCD patients are neglected, but the NCD services offered by PEN-Plus will address the gap in availability of services for both severe and common NCDs and injuries in even the most rural areas of Malawi.”
The PEN-Plus clinic in Neno will become a training site to prepare the specialized NCD clinical officers and nurses who will staff the new PEN-Plus clinics in Salima and Karonga. In time the Salima and Karonga clinics will also become Centers of Excellence for training and mentorship to allow for even easier expansion of PEN-Plus in the future.