Case Study: Research Policy Interface Thematic Group
Malawi Next Generation Children’s Surgery Plan
Academics and Institutional Affiliation:
Jakub Gajewski & Chiara Pittalis
Royal College of Surgeons Ireland
Evidence of policy outcome referencing the role of the research:
The Malawi Next Generation Children’s Surgery Plan builds on the evidence generated through Dr. Jakub Gajewski’s research under: COST-Africa, SURG-Africa, and KidSURG RCSI projects. KidSURG project provided locally relevant data on the capacity, training needs, and outcomes of paediatric surgery in Malawi, highlighting gaps in workforce skills, service delivery, and referral pathways. SURG-Africa and Cost-Africa underpin the plan by laying foundations for strengthening district surgical capacity and referral systems, expanding surgical training pathways, and scaling up the training of healthcare providers.
Research undertaken that informed or underpinned the policy outcome:
Gajewski J, Borgstein E, Bijlmakers L, Mwapasa G, Aljohani Z, Pittalis C, et al. Evaluation of a surgical training programme for clinical officers in Malawi, British Journal of Surgery 2019 doi.org/10.1002/bjs.11065
Gajewski J, Zhang M, Bijlmakers L, Pittalis C, Borgstein E, Mwapasa G, et al. Rates of surgical deaths and infections at district hospitals in Malawi and Zambia: a prospective multicentre cohort study. BMJ Open 2021 doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049126
Gajewski J, Pittalis C, Lavy C, Borgstein E, Bijlmakers L, Mwapasa G, et al. Anesthesia capacity of district-level hospitals in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia: a mixed-methods study. Anesth Analg. 2020 doi.org/10.1213/ANE.0000000000004363
Clarke M, Pittalis C, Borgstein E, Bijlmakers L, Cheelo M, Ifeanyichi M, et al. Surgical service monitoring and quality control systems at district hospitals in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia: a mixed-methods study. BMJ Qual Saf. doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2020-012751
Mwapasa G, Pittalis C, Clarke M, Bijlmakers L, Le G, Mkandawire N, et al. Evaluation of a managed surgical consultation network in Malawi. World J Surg. doi.org/10.1007/s00268-020-05809-3
Key learnings for you from this research-policy bridging process:
Researchers can guide policy development if they have relevant expertise. This was the case in this policy development work, where Dr. Gajewski was invited as an expert in district-level/rural surgical care in Malawi and wrote substantial parts of the MoH policy.
SDGs impacted:
SDG 3 & SDG 17
