My Community: A Community-Powered Public Health Surveillance Tool Presented at Malawi’s First National Public Health RDC 2025 - Lilongwe

On October 29, 2025, we had the privilege of presenting My Community at Malawi’s first National Public Health (NPH) Research Dissemination Conference (RDC) hosted at Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe.

Speaking to a diverse and engaged audience of researchers, policymakers, innovators, implementers, and public health advocates, we highlighted how My Community is shaping real-time public health alerting and community-level engagement in Malawi.

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What We Shared

• Over 3,000+ alerts have already been reported by the public — including suspected Cholera cases, security alerts, road traffic accidents, and more.
• My Community can also support reporting of suspected MPox cases and strengthen response.
• Geo-targeted alerts reach users within a 10km radius, keeping alerts relevant and localized.
• Emergency response integrations (SMS, automated calls, emails, and APIs) can connect citizens to nearby responders — including ambulances, hospitals, and police.
• Facility validation workflows allow health workers to confirm and escalate alerts, strengthening accuracy and coordination.
• An upcoming USSD version will bring these benefits to rural communities without smartphones — ensuring no one is left behind.

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A Complement to National Systems

We emphasized how My Community is designed to complement Malawi’s existing public health surveillance systems. Specifically, it can work in partnership with the Public Health Institute of Malawi (PHIM) and the Emergency Operations Centers (EOC) to gather alerts from the community level.

This allows responders at facility, district, and national levels to validate rumours and act faster.

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Audience Reflections

We were encouraged by participants’ thoughtful questions, especially around data ethics, privacy, and false alerts.

• Yes, some false alarms occur — but the system includes abuse protections and enables responder validation.
• Alert categories and visibility controls help ensure only verified actors can access sensitive information, reducing public panic.
• Health workers can update case statuses and support integration into formal surveillance pipelines such as DHIS2 and the Event-Based Surveillance System (EBS).

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What’s Next

We’ve started engagement with PHIM and other stakeholders to explore technical collaboration. We’re excited by the shared vision of building a resilient, citizen-powered early warning system for Malawi.

Let’s work together to put communities at the heart of public health surveillance.

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Learn more

Learn more & download One App on Google Play Store to witness My Community in action: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.small.world

For more information, contact +265992217776