Malawi Health Sector Strategic Plan 2011-2016

Malawi is a small, narrow, landlocked country that shares boundaries with Zambia in the west, Mozambique in the east, south and southwest, and Tanzania in the north. Malawi has an area of 118,484 km2 of which 94,276 km2 is landlocked. The country is divided into three administrative regions, namely the northern, central and southern regions. Malawi has 28 districts, which are further divided into traditional authorities (TAs) ruled by chiefs. The village is the smallest administrative unit and each village is under a TA. A Group Village Headman (GVH) oversees several villages. There is a Village Development Committee (VDC) at GVH level which is responsible for development activities. Development activities at TA level are coordinated by the Area Development Committee (ADC). Politically, each district is further divided into constituencies which are represented by Members of Parliament (MPs) and in some cases these constituencies can combine more than one TA.

In 2011 Malawi’s population was estimated at 14.4 million.4 Since the population stood at eight million in 1987, this means that it has almost doubled over a 20-year period. At this growth rate it is estimated that by 2016, the population will be at 16.3 million and the health sector will be required to cater for an extra three million people. With this population increase, there will be need for a corresponding increase in funding for the health sector. The proportion of Malawi’s population residing in urban areas is estimated at 15.3%. Malawi is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa: the population density was estimated at 105 persons per km2 in 1998 and increased to 139 persons per km2 in 2008 with the Southern Region having the highest population density at 184 persons per km2. Malawi’s population growth rate is estimated at 2.3%, predominantly due to the high total fertility rate (TFR), which is now estimated at 5.7, and the low contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) of 35% among all women using any method 6 . Almost half of the population is under 15 years of age and the dependency ratio rose from 0.92 in 1966 to 1.04 in 2008. About 7% of the population are infants aged less than 1 year, 22% are children under five years of age and about 46% are aged 18 years and above. Malawi is predominantly a Christian country (83%), while 13% are Muslim, 2% of other religions and 2% of no religion.
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