Malawi Medical Mission Trip 2016

In March 2016, a five member team from Fairfax Community Church traveled to Lilongwe, Malawi to lend assistance to a exceptional ministry called Partners In Hope that was established 15 years ago by Dr Perry Jansen. PIH was established originally to offer free HIV and AIDS care to the population of Malawi which has the second highest rate of this disease in the world.

Over the years he has expanded the PIH clinic to now offers a general medical clinic as well for any and all members of the population. The money raised from this clinic allows PIH to continue to offer free HIV care. He has now opened a small inpatient service at PIH and has established 42 outlying clinics throughout Malawi where residents can have their viral loads checked and antiviral medications distributed. He has trained over 100 residents from UCLA in HIV and tropical medicine at the clinic and is establishing a relationship with Baylor University as well.

The next step in bringing medical care to this exceedingly poor country is to build a surgical center on the property and begin offering surgical services. Our team went there to help design the surgical facility and participated in the planning and training that will be required. Members of the team also evaluated the patient flow through the clinic and devised improvements in the present system. Dr. Jansen estimated that the our recommendations on how to design and equip the center will save the ministry well over $60,000.