Clinical officers in Malawi : rural health issues

Extracted from text ... SA Fam Pract 2004;46(2) 32 Clinical Officers in Malawi Malawi had 123 doctors serving a population in excess of 10 million in 2002-2003 (doctor: population ratio of 1: 89, 962)1. Four out of 26 health districts had no doctors whilst a further 6 had only one doctor. Malawi has responded to this problem by training and relying on the clinical officer cadre since 1980, when the first group of clinical officers commenced service delivery. Clinical officers are largely responsible for the provision of clinical care at district hospital level and play a very important role in the larger central hospitals. ..