Malawi's hospitals and clinics provide critical HIV testing and treatment and serve as sites for the disbursement of free antiretroviral (ARV) medication. They also provide care for those who are ill and dying, and provide basic maternity care, including the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission of HIV. As a result of HIV infections, rates of tuberculosis have increased and deaths from illnesses such as malaria, typhoid and cholera are on the rise. These diseases also lead to higher maternal mortality rates due to complications from HIV and lack of access to obstetrical care.

Through our partnerships with local hospitals and clinics, GAIA supports the development of Malawi's healthcare infrastructure. Most recently we raised funds to support the construction of a new birthing center at St. Joseph's Hospital in Ludzi Parish. The Center, once operational, will be capable of handling complicated births, which are responsible for high maternal and infant mortality rates in Ludzi's and nearby villages.

St. Joseph's Hospital is critical to the health of villagers living nearby-the hospital serves an area of over 26,000 people, 6,016 of whom are women of child-bearing age. Currently the hospital handles a total of 2,000 births per year. Over 15% of these deliveries are classified as "complicated" because mothers require cesarean sections, blood transfusions and other surgical procedures that the hospital was previously unable to provide. In the past when village women reached the hospital, medical treatment was hampered by the lack of life-saving equipment and adequate physical infrastructure.

The newly constructed Center will have the capacity to serve more women, thus increasing the number of deliveries the hospital can responsibly handle each year while strengthening the Center's ability to successfully manage more complicated births. It is typical for local women to have their babies at home, and when there are complications, women are not always taken to St. Joseph's because their families are poor and unable to pay hospital fees. Often, villagers wait too long to bring mothers in distress to the hospital, leading to unnecessary deaths.

We are pleased to note that financial considerations will no longer discourage villagers from seeking care at St. Joseph's, as the hospital was deemed a service provider by the government and will therefore receive a government contract to accommodate poor mothers ensuring that they have access to free maternal and neonatal health services. The Malawian government will be financially responsible for poor women's hospital fees including all antenatal, intra-partum and post-partum care. As a government service provider, St. Joseph's will be able to attract more women to the birthing center and lower the rates of maternal and infant mortality in the area.

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