Child mortality in Malawi remains high – in 2021, 42 out of every 1,000 children died before their fifth birthday, often from preventable causes. The first hours after hospital admission are particularly critical for children. This is where the Digital ETAT Solution comes in: a digital clinical decision support tool that guides (paediatric) healthcare providers step by step through emergency care – from triage to treatment.

The foundation is ETAT (Emergency Triage, Assessment & Treatment), developed in Malawi, adopted by the WHO, and fully integrated into national training by the Malawian Ministry of Health. While ETAT has already proven effective in its paper-based form, the digital version allows for much broader and faster use – including in remote facilities.

Our aim is to develop, evaluate, and scale up a clinical decision support system. Digitalising the national paediatric emergency care guidelines will enable rapid access to safe and effective triage, initial assessment, and treatment recommendations. Our easy-to-use digital tool supports wide and routine use.

Through monitoring and evaluation, the project aims to demonstrate measurable improvements in key health indicators.

The programme will be implemented over five years in three phases:

  • Development of the solution
  • Implementation & evaluation at up to 15 hospitals and health centres
  • Nationwide scale-up & handover to the Ministry of Health

The close partnership with the Ministry of Health Malawi and the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences ensures that the Digital ETAT Solution is not only developed in a practice-oriented way but also sustainably operated. After the programme phase, the system will be fully hosted and maintained by the Ministry of Health.

In the long term, the digital solution aims to improve adherence to ETAT guidelines through high acceptance and usability – and can serve as a model for other countries in Southern Africa.

The project is financially supported through the special funding program “Digital Health” of the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation (EKFS) – and is still seeking additional funding (extended research projects on effectiveness and other topics are in planning). If you are interested, please contact Barbara Zimmer.

Contact:

Dr. Barbara Zimmer – barbara.leonie.zimmer@googlemail.com

Sophia von Blomberg – sophia.blomberg@gmail.com

Markus Pohl – pohl.mark@gmail.com