Myness Kasanda

There were more female participants in the HCW category (60%) but one female participant in the policymaker category (20%) (Table 1). Most participants in the HCW category were aged between 25 and 34 years (65%), with most policymakers being above 45 years old (60%). All the nurses were females. Two doctors in the HCW group have a publication each, a pharmacist has two publications, and the publications for all the policymakers who participated in the KIIs add up to 104.

Abstract Children’s health is a global public health priority and a determinant of development and sustainability. Its effective delivery and further improvements require constant and dedicated research on children, especially by child healthcare workers (HCWs). Studies have shown a high involvement of child HCWs from developed countries in child health research, with an under-representation from the global south in authorship and leadership in international collaborations.

To our knowledge, only one study has reported on CHWs’ time utilization using direct time-motion observation in Malawi, focusing on cervical cancer and family planning [36]. However, our study focused on household visits and time taken for specific tasks among diverse multiple health areas. We found that CHWs in the Neno district spend significantly less time on monthly household visits than expected through program design, with a median time of 34 min.