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DfID hails Malawi for medical researches

Britain’s Department for International Development (DfID) chief scientific adviser Christopher Whitty on Friday commended Malawi as one of the best countries in conducting strong researches across Africa.

Speaking during a news conference in Blantyre, Whitty said researches conducted in Malawi are strong and approved not only for the policy of Malawi but also other countries across Africa.lab

He said: “It is one of the best because the research done in Malawi has some of the strongest researches of diseases not only by the Government of Malawi for its policy but it is also being used elsewhere in Africa.

“For example, the way sick children are looked after with malaria in across Africa is often informed by the kind of research that is done here in Blantyre.”

Whitty said the science for health in Malawi is extremely strong and that it has some of the best healthcare researchers anywhere in Africa.

He acclaimed Malawi for the variety of researches conducted at College of Medicine, a constituent college of the University of Malawi, and Malawi Liverpool- Wellcome Trust (MLW).

Speaking on behalf of DfID, Whitty confirmed that the institution will continue to support Malawi because of the impressive research work.

He said: “We remain very impressed not only with what has been done already and I think that it’s important to remember that child deaths and deaths from HIV in Malawi have fallen very steadily in the last 15 years.”

Whitty said the rates reduced based on the good researches done and DfID is sure that the researches being conducted now for the future remain to be strong.

Commenting on the funding DfID has been providing, Wilson Mandala, associate director and lecturer at CoM, said the funding has been substantial and crucial.

He said the information generated in Malawi is used across Africa and other countries that have the same demographic features like Malawi.

In 1987, local medical doctors Terrie Taylor and Malcolm Molyneux created what is now known as Blantyre Coma Scale—which is basically a scale suitable to use in preverbal children. The scale, which is used worldwide, uses motor and crying responses to pain and includes the ability to watch. It can be used to assess young children with cerebral malaria.

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