Malawi | Child Health | Antimicrobial Resistance
Key Achievements
In Malawi’s referral hospitals, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) increasingly means that common childhood infections no longer responded to first-line antibiotics, with devastating consequences for families and an already stretched health system. Yamikani Makanga and Dr Wongani Nyangulu examined how drug-resistant infections affects children, bringing attention to a crisis that remained poorly understood outside clinical settings.
The project focused on the drivers and human impact of AMR in Malawi, highlighting how self-medication, unregulated and counterfeit drug sales, and low public awareness contributes to the spread of resistance. By centering families’ experiences alongside frontline health workers’ perspectives, the project reframed AMR as a lived, everyday threat rather than a distant scientific problem.
Through a mix of documentary storytelling, infographics, op-eds, and online news briefs, the project aimed to reach communities, health professionals, policymakers, and international audiences. By pairing emotional family narratives with medical expertise, the work sought to raise awareness, encourage safer antibiotic use, and stimulate policy dialogue on regulation and stewardship, demonstrating how cross-sector collaboration could translate complex science into compelling, action-oriented stories.