Mwayi wa Moyo ("A Chance to Live") Blantyre District Malawi. Integrated Family Planning Maternal Neonatal and Child Health Project in Malawi: Final evaluation report.

The purpose of the final evaluation (FE) was to determine whether the Mwayi wa Mayo Integrated Family Planning Maternal Newborn and Child Health Project increased use of evidence-based life-saving interventions by women caregivers and children in the Blantyre District of Malawi. The evaluation was conducted between February 15 and 24 2016. The principal conclusions of the FE are: 1. Improved coverage of several high impact interventions along the lifecycle of women pregnant women and children is noted in project areas although not all targets were met. 2. Some improvement was seen in management of diarrhea. 3. Health surveillance assistants (HSAs) in project areas are able to provide integrated community case-management for sick children at reasonable standards for most interventions -- referral remains a challenge. 4. Integrated training supervision and service delivery resulted in limited improvements in quality of care by HSAs. 5. More attention to quality of care provided by facility-based health workers (HWs) is needed. Integrated training supervision and service delivery have a number of benefits. 7. Implementation through the routine district system has strengthened capacity. HSA coverage and deployment is an important problem that will limit program effectiveness in the long term -- and needs urgent review. 9. Strengthening availability of essential medicines is a country-wide challenge and needs continued attention. I0. Limitations to sustainability remain and will require long-term support. (Excerpts)