Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Research Programme (MLW) says Malawi has made remarkable progress in the fight against trypanosomiasis, commonly known as sleeping sickness disease, as reported cases continue to decline.
The disease is caused by a parasite and transmitted through a bite of an infected tsetse fly, and results in swelling of the brain.
The Ministry of Health records show that Malawi recorded 16 cases in 2024 and 4 cases in the first half of 2025, which is a drop from the 90 cases the country registered during the 2019 sleeping sickness outbreak.
One of the researchers under Neglected Tropical Diseases Department at MLW, Chisomo Nkhoma said in collaboration with Department of Parks and Wildlife, Ministry of Health, Liverpool School of tropical medicine and University of Glasgow they have stepped up efforts of fighting sleeping sickness prevalence through studies such as the 2024 concluded Strengthening Resilience against Sleeping Sickness (STRESS).
Nkhoma added that MLW is also set to commission a new study to establish the effectiveness of the new Rapid Diagnostic Test Kit in Nkhotakota, Kasungu, Ntchisi and Rumphi as well as communities around the country’s game reserves. The kit will be used to detect sleeping sickness, caused by pathogens in human blood
He has expressed optimism that once the kit is adopted by local healthy policy makers, it will be a game changer in the fight against the disease, as currently the country only relies on microscopic tests to detect the sleeping sickness-causing pathogens in human blood
Early this year, Malawi launched the first oral drug called Fexinidazole, which replaced the toxic IV drug that was previously used to treat the disease.
By Alufisha Fischer
