Malawi Strengthens Emergency Preparedness with Launch of Second AVoHC–SURGE Cohort

Lilongwe-Malawi has launched the second cohort of emergency responder's AVoHC Surge training in bid to strengthen its capacity to respond to public health emergencies with support from the Pandemic Fund, World Bank-HEPRR and World Health Organisation,

The new cohort has enrolled 104 multisectoral responders from across government and partner institution: Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development; Malawi Defense Force (MDF); Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHES). The responders are to undergo a 27 day training covering Humanitarian and Health Cluster Coordination and Rapid Response Teams (RRT), Public Health Emergency Operation Centres (PHEOC), Gender Based Violence & Prevention and Response to Sexual Exploitation and Harassment (GBV & PRSEAH) and Communication in emergencies.

In his opening remarks, Secretary for Health Administration, Mr Bestone Chisamile, underscored the urgency of preparedness as Malawi continues to face multiple and overlapping risks-from cholera, mpox, measles, and polio to climate-related shocks such as floods and cyclones.

"Health emergencies do not respect sectoral boundaries-they demand rapid, coordinated, and well-prepared responses. Malawi's experiences remind us that emergencies are increasingly climate-sensitive, multisectoral, and fast-moving, requiring a One Health approach that integrates human, animal, and environmental health, he emphasized.

WHO Representative Dr Charles Njuguna underscored the strategic value of the SURGE approach as promoted by the WHO, emphasizing that it is not only about deploying experts during crises, but about ensuring readiness before emergencies occur. He highlighted the importance of integrating AVoHC-SURGE training into pre-service curricula for sustainability, while strengthening linkages with Emergency Medical Teams. This, he noted, enables a more comprehensive, end-to-end emergency response-from detection and coordination to clinical care-within a unified national system.

"We drew critical lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, where cross-border deployment of responders was limited, underscoring the need for strong national health systems. Investing in preparedness builds resilience to protect communities when it matters most. The numbers affected by emergencies are not just statistics-they represent people, families, and communities," he added.

The training contributes to building a skilled, ethical, and rapidly deployable workforce, strengthening coordination, and advancing Malawi's progress toward global health security benchmarks. It also reinforces the country's growing role in regional response efforts.

This marks Malawi's second AVoHC-SURGE cohort, advancing toward the set 2023 target of 200 trained responders. As the 16th country in the WHO African Region to roll out the programme, Malawi has already demonstrated strong national ownership-training 70 responders in the first cohort, 63 of whom were from 10 ministries and government institutions, WHO, UNICEF and other partners, reflecting a truly multisectoral One Health approach.