The combined effects of famine and the HIV/AIDS epidemic have been devastating for the southeast African nation of Malawi. Millions lack access to adequate healthcare, and the country is home to nearly a million orphans and 90,000 AIDS-related deaths per year. In January of 2007, DGHE, Partners In Health (PIH) and the Clinton-Hunter Development Initiative (CHDI) responded to this crisis by launching a project in the impoverished rural district of Neno, where the HIV infection rate among adults approaches 15%.

Led by DGHE Associate Physician and Hatch Scholar Dr. Keith Joseph, DGHE and PIH clinicians and staff, along with a team of Malawian nurses, were able to begin providing care for more than 100 patients a day and get more than 100 patients on HIV treatment within their first few months on the ground.

Physicians from the DGHE/PIH sites in Haiti and Rwanda have joined the team in Malawi, bringing with them years of experience launching healthcare initiatives in resource-poor settings. Accomplishments include a range of infrastructure improvements; the provision of essential medicines and equipment; rollout of a full range of medical services at all sites, including adult, pediatric and chronic disease care; and a robust mobile clinic and community health worker program with 450 workers trained as of January 2009.

The project was launched at the Neno Rural Hospital where it has since started over 1,500 people on ARVs. The project has also expanded to 10 rural health centers and has completed the construction of a district hospital and a rural hospital. The project serves a population of 150,000 and in 2008, recorded some 210,000 patient visits (including numerous patients who travel across the border from Mozambique in search of quality care).