Malawi MW: Mortality Rate: Infant: Male: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 42.400 Ratio in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 46.300 Ratio for 2015. Malawi MW: Mortality Rate: Infant: Male: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 61.400 Ratio from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2017, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 145.600 Ratio in 1990 and a record low of 42.400 Ratio in 2017. Malawi MW: Mortality Rate: Infant: Male: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Malawi – Table MW.World Bank: Health Statistics. Infant mortality rate, male is the number of male infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 male live births in a given year.; ; Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Weighted average; Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls in countries in which parental gender preferences are insignificant. Under-five mortality captures the effect of gender discrimination better than infant mortality does, as malnutrition and medical interventions have more significant impacts to this age group. Where female under-five mortality is higher, girls are likely to have less access to resources than boys.

The 1992 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS) was a nationally representative sample survey designed to provide information on levels and trends in fertility, early childhood mortality and morbidity, family planning knowledge and use, and maternal and child health. The survey was implemented by the National Statistical Office during September to November 1992. In 5323 households, 4849 women age 15-49 years and 1151 men age 20-54 years were interviewed. The Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS) was a national sample survey of women and men of reproductive age designed to provide, among other things, information on fertility, family planning, child survival, and health of mothers and children. Specifically, the main objectives of the survey were to: Collect up-to-date information on fertility, infant and child mortality, and family planning Collect information on health-related matters, including breastleeding, antenatal and maternity services, vaccinations, and childhood diseases and treatment Assess the nutritional status of mothers and children Collect information on knowledge and attitudes regarding AIDS Collect information suitable for the estimation of mortality related to pregnancy and childbearing Assess the availability of health and family planning services. MAIN FINDINGS The findings indicate that fertility in Malawi has been declining over the last decade; at current levels a woman will give birth to an average of 6.7 children during her lifetime. Fertility in rural areas is 6.9 children per woman compared to 5.5 children in urban areas. Fertility is higher in the Central Region (7.4 children per woman) than in the Northem Region (6.7) or Southern Region (6.2). Over the last decade, the average age at which a woman first gives birth has risen slightly over the last decade from 18.3 to 18.9 years. Still, over one third of women currently under 20 years of age have either already given birlh to at least one child or are currently pregnant. Although 58 percent of currently married women would like to have another child, only 19 percent want one within the next two years. Thirty-seven percent would prefer to walt two or more years. Nearly one quarter of married women want no more children than they already have. Thus, a majority of women (61 percent) want either to delay their next birth or end childbearing altogether. This represents the proportion of women who are potentially in need of family planning. Women reported an average ideal family size of 5.7 children (i.e., wanted fertility), one child less than the actual fertility level measured in the surveyfurther evidence of the need for family planning methods. Knowledge of contraceptive methods is high among all age groups and socioeconomic strata of women and men. Most women and men also know of a source to obtain a contraceptive method, although this varies by the type of method. The contraceptive pill is the most commonly cited method known by women; men are most familiar with condoms. Despite widespread knowledge of family planning, current use of contraception remains quite low. Only 7 percent of currently married women were using a modem method and another 6 percent were using a traditional method of family planning at the time of the survey. This does, however, represent an increase in the contraceptive prevalence rate (modem methods) from about 1 percent estimated from data collected in the 1984 Family Formation Survey. The modem methods most commonly used by women are the pill (2.2 percent), female sterilisation (1.7 percent), condoms (1.7 percent), and injections (1.5 percent). Men reported higher rates of contraceptive use (13 percent use of modem methods) than women. However, when comparing method-specific use rates, nearly all of the difference in use between men and women is explained by much higher condom use among men. Early childhood mortality remains high in Malawi; the under-five mortality rate currently stands at 234 deaths per 1000 live births. The infant mortality rate was estimated at 134 per 10130 live births. This means that nearly one in seven children dies before his first birthday, and nearly one in four children does not reach his fifth birthday. The probability of child death is linked to several factors, most strikingly, low levels of maternal education and short intervals between births. Children of uneducated women are twice as likely to die in the first five years of life as children of women with a secondary education. Similarly, the probablity of under-five mortality for children with a previous birth interval of less than 2 years is two times greater than for children with a birth interval of 4 or more years. Children living in rural areas have a higher rate ofunder-fwe mortality than urban children, and children in the Central Region have higher mortality than their counterparts in the Northem and Southem Regions. Data were collected that allow estimation ofmatemalmortality. It is estimated that for every 100,000 live births, 620 women die due to causes related to pregnancy and childbearing. The height and weight of children under five years old and their mothers were collected in the survey. The results show that nearly one half of children under age five are stunted, i.e., too short for their age; about half of these are severely stunted. By age 3, two-thirds of children are stunted. As with childhood mortality, chronic undernutrition is more common in rural areas and among children of uneducated women. The duration of breastfeeding is relatively long in Malawi (median length, 21 months), but supplemental liquids and foods are introduced at an early age. By age 2-3 months, 76 percent of children are already receiving supplements. Mothers were asked to report on recent episodes of illness among their young children. The results indicate that children age 6-23 months are the most vulnerable to fever, acute respiratory infection (ARI), and diarrhea. Over half of the children in this age group were reported to have had a fever, about 40 percent had a bout with diarrhea, and 20 percent had symptoms indicating ARI in the two-week period before the survey. Less than half of recently sick children had been taken to a health facility for treatment. Sixty-three percent of children with diarrhea were given rehydration therapy, using either prepackaged rehydration salts or a home-based preparation. However, one quarter of children with diarrhea received less fluid than normal during the illness, and for 17 percent of children still being breastfed, breastfeeding of the sick child was reduced. Use of basic, preventive maternal and child health services is generally high. For 90 percent of recent births, mothers had received antenatal care from a trained medical person, most commonly a nurse or trained midwife. For 86 percent of births, mothers had received at least one dose of tetanus toxoid during pregnancy. Over half of recent births were delivered in a health facility. Child vaccination coverage is high; 82 percent of children age 12-23 months had received the full complement of recommended vaccines, 67 percent by exact age 12 months. BCG coverage and first dose coverage for DPT and polio vaccine were 97 percent. However, 9 percent of children age 12-23 months who received the first doses of DPT and polio vaccine failed to eventually receive the recommended third doses. Information was collected on knowledge and attitudes regarding AIDS. General knowledge of AIDS is nearly universal in Malawi; 98 percent of men and 95 percent of women said they had heard of AIDS. Further, the vast majority of men and women know that the disease is transmitted through sexual intercourse. Men tended to know more different ways of disease transmission than women, and were more likely to mention condom use as a means to prevent spread of AIDS. Women, especially those living in rural areas, are more likely to hold misconceptions about modes of disease transmission. Thirty percent of rural women believe that AIDS can not be prevented.

Malawi MW: Mortality Rate: Under-5: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 55.100 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 59.100 Ratio for 2015. Malawi MW: Mortality Rate: Under-5: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 232.400 Ratio from Dec 1964 (Median) to 2016, with 53 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 353.100 Ratio in 1964 and a record low of 55.100 Ratio in 2016. Malawi MW: Mortality Rate: Under-5: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Malawi – Table MW.World Bank: Health Statistics. Under-five mortality rate is the probability per 1,000 that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified year.; ; Estimates Developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Weighted average; Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls in countries in which parental gender preferences are insignificant. Under-five mortality captures the effect of gender discrimination better than infant mortality does, as malnutrition and medical interventions have more significant impacts to this age group. Where female under-five mortality is higher, girls are likely to have less access to resources than boys.

The 2004 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS) is a nationally representative survey of 11,698 women age 1549 and 3,261 men age 15-54. The main purpose of the 2004 MDHS is to provide policymakers and programme managers with detailed information on fertility, family planning, childhood and adult mortality, maternal and child health, as well as knowledge of and attitudes related to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The 2004 MDHS is designed to provide data to monitor the population and health situation in Malawi as a followup of the 1992 and 2000 MDHS surveys, and the 1996 Malawi Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices in Health Survey. New features of the 2004 MDHS include the collection of information on use of mosquito nets, domestic violence, anaemia testing of women and children under 5, and HIV testing of adults. The 2004 MDHS survey was implemented by the National Statistical Office (NSO). The Ministry of Health and Population, the National AIDS Commission (NAC), the National Economic Council, and the Ministry of Gender contributed to the development of the questionnaires for the survey. Most of the funds for the local costs of the survey were provided by multiple donors through the NAC. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided additional funds for the technical assistance through ORC Macro. The Department for International Development (DfID) of the British Government, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) also provided funds for the survey. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention provided technical assistance in HIV testing. The survey used a two-stage sample based on the 1998 Census of Population and Housing and was designed to produce estimates for key indicators for ten large districts in addition to estimates for national, regional, and urban-rural domains. Fieldwork for the 2004 MDHS was carried out by 22 mobile interviewing teams. Data collection commenced on 4 October 2004 and was completed on 31 January 2005. The principal aim of the 2004 MDHS project was to provide up-to-date information on fertility and childhood mortality levels, nuptiality, fertility preferences, awareness and use of family planning methods, use of maternal and child health services, and knowledge and behaviours related to HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. It was designed as a follow-on to the 2000 MDHS survey, a national-level survey of similar scope. The 2004 MDHS survey, unlike the 2000 MDHS, collected blood samples which were later tested for HIV in order to estimate HIV prevalence in Malawi. In broad terms, the 2004 MDHS survey aimed to: Assess trends in Malawi's demographic indicators, principally fertility and mortality Assist in the monitoring and evaluation of Malawi's health, population, and nutrition programmes Advance survey methodology in Malawi and contribute to national and international databases Provide national-level estimates of HIV prevalence for women age 15-49 and men age 15-54. In more specific terms, the 2004 MDHS survey was designed to: Provide data on the family planning and fertility behaviour of the Malawian population and thereby enable policymakers to evaluate and enhance family planning initiatives in the country Measure changes in fertility and contraceptive prevalence and analyse the factors that affect these changes, such as marriage patterns, desire for children, availability of contraception, breastfeeding habits, and important social and economic factors Examine basic indicators of maternal and child health and welfare in Malawi, including nutritional status, use of antenatal and maternity services, treatment of recent episodes of childhood illness, and use of immunisation services. Particular emphasis was placed on malaria programmes, including malaria prevention activities and treatment of episodes of fever. Provide levels and patterns of knowledge and behaviour related to the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections Provide national estimates of HIV prevalence Measure the level of infant and adult mortality including maternal mortality at the national level Assess the status of women in the country. MAIN FINDINGS Fertility Fertility Levels and Trends. While there has been a significant decline in fertility in the past two decades from 7.6 children in the early 1980s to 6.0 children per woman in the early 2000s, compared with selected countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, such as Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Kenya, and Uganda, the total fertility rate (TFR) in Malawi is high, lower only than Uganda (6.9). Family planning Knowledge of Contraception. Knowledge of family planning is nearly universal, with 97 percent of women age 15-49 and 97 percent of men age 15-54 knowing at least one modern method of family planning. The most widely known modern methods of contraception among all women are injectables (93 percent), the pill and male condom (90 percent each), and female sterilisation (83 percent). Maternal health Antenatal Care. There has been little change in the coverage of antenatal care (ANC) from a medical professional since 2000 (93 percent in 2004 compared with 91 percent in 2000). Most women receive ANC from a nurse or a midwife (82 percent), although 10 percent go to a doctor or a clinical officer. A small proportion (2 percent) receives ANC from a traditional birth attendant, and 5 percent do not receive any ANC. Only 8 percent of women initiated ANC before the fourth month of pregnancy, a marginal increase from 7 percent in the 2000 MDHS. Adult and Maternal Mortality. Comparison of data from the 2000 and 2004 MDHS surveys indicates that mortality for both women and men has remained at the same levels since 1997 (11-12 deaths per 1,000). Child health Childhood Mortality. Data from the 2004 MDHS show that for the 2000-2004 period, the infant mortality rate is 76 per 1,000 live births, child mortality is 62 per 1,000, and the under-five mortality rate is 133 per 1,000 live births. Nutrition Breastfeeding Practices. Breastfeeding is nearly universal in Malawi. Ninety-eight percent of children are breastfed for some period of time. The median duration of breastfeeding in Malawi in 2004 is 23.2 months, one month shorter than in 2000. HIV/AIDS Awareness of AIDS. Knowledge of AIDS among women and men in Malawi is almost universal. This is true across age group, urban-rural residence, marital status, wealth index, and education. Nearly half of women and six in ten men can identify the two most common misconceptions about the transmission of HIV-HIV can be transmitted by mosquito bites, and HIV can be transmitted by supernatural means-and know that a healthy-looking person can have the AIDS virus.

Malawi MW: Number of Death: Infant data was reported at 25,754.000 Person in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 26,347.000 Person for 2016. Malawi MW: Number of Death: Infant data is updated yearly, averaging 47,941.000 Person from Dec 1966 (Median) to 2017, with 52 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 60,112.000 Person in 1989 and a record low of 25,754.000 Person in 2017. Malawi MW: Number of Death: Infant data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Malawi – Table MW.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Number of infants dying before reaching one year of age.; ; Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Sum;

A unified data set of covariates for investigating the causes of early childhood primary school level performance. Unified based on school level regions computed as the voronoi cells for all schools (geolocated from the Malawi Spatial Data Platform). Covariates contributing to this data set are from the following sources: The 4th Integrated Household Survey (IHS4) [https://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/2936/data-dictionary], two birth cohort studies (IMPROVE and REVAMP), the Malawi Spatial Data Platform [http://www.masdap.mw/] and protein consumption data [an extension of the IHS3 data set: https://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/1003 by Molly Muleya, Edward Joy and Kevin Tang from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the University of Nottingham]. The original data is available by request to the data owners. Some, such as the birth cohort data is subject to further restrictions. Access requests to code to build the database from these sources and/or discussions about access to the pre-built database should be sent to the PI of the ESRC Grant: ES/T01010X/1. The school level regions are provided as part of this data collection and full meta-data for all fields in the full dataset is provided. See Section Notes on access for more information.

Like many low-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Malawi is burdened with high rates of maternal, infant and childhood mortality and undernutrition. These are driven by multiple factors that interact over space and time. Coupled with economic and gender inequalities, factors that operate across early childhood (0-8 years) result in many children failing to achieve their educational potential. At a national level this impedes economic development and perpetuates a cycle of poverty. A holistic, unified, approach to data acquisition of key factors impacting early child development, data sharing and linkage to existing datasets, statistical analyses and mathematical modelling, is required to identify which children are at greatest need of intervention. We aim to achieve this by building a new data platform for early child development in Malawi by harmonising geo-temporal data that already exists, courtesy of national surveys conducted by the Government of Malawi, with data from ongoing projects undertaken by our team of researchers and NGO partners, relating to early educational outcomes, maternal and infant health, and micronutrients in soil and crop samples taken from plots where food is grown for consumption in family homes. Integrating these datasets into a large-scale national data platform will enable secondary analyses to be conducted, that have hitherto, not been possible. This will transform early child development and learning outcomes in Malawi, and requires collaboration and cooperation of key stakeholders to bring about long-term, sustainable, change. Current policy for mothers and children in Malawi is covered by three separate government ministries. A lack of joined up planning, acquisition, and sharing of key data means that opportunities to intervene at an early stage may be lost. Currently, it is not possible to track individual children from pregnancy to 8 years and identify those most at risk of adverse outcomes. This leaves Malawi vulnerable to continued poor early child development and the long-term negative impact this has on the country's economic development and welfare. Over the past year, we have established a multidisciplinary team of international researchers from psychology, biosciences, maternal, child, and public health, big data science, and international law on data protection and governance, with NGOs, policy-makers, and policy-enablers from key government sectors in Malawi, all of whom are committed to improving quality of life for young children and their families. We have identified the need for a unified data management system in Malawi, that is compliant with General Data Protection Regulation legislation, and will enable NGO and research data to be integrated with national government survey data. Accordingly, in this project we propose to build a new data platform that will harmonise existing datasets from NGOs, the Government of Malawi, and ongoing research projects in Malawi, to enable secondary analyses to be conducted that will identify causal pathways of adverse outcomes in early childhood. Results from these secondary data analyses will enhance understanding of factors that impact early child development and learning and will be utilised by NGOs and the Government of Malawi to make strategic decisions based on scientific evidence to enhance the effectiveness of their programmes and policies. The new data platform will be hosted within the Ministry of Gender and will be an ongoing, sustainable resource, improving the capacity and methods for secondary data research in Malawi and will act as a demonstration of potential to other developing nations. This project is timely as it...

Malawi MW: Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data was reported at 63.223 Year in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 62.661 Year for 2015. Malawi MW: Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 46.355 Year from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 63.223 Year in 2016 and a record low of 37.805 Year in 1960. Malawi MW: Life Expectancy at Birth: Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Malawi – Table MW.World Bank: Health Statistics. Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision, or derived from male and female life expectancy at birth from sources such as: (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

Malawi MW: Life Expectancy at Birth: Female data was reported at 65.761 Year in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 65.174 Year for 2015. Malawi MW: Life Expectancy at Birth: Female data is updated yearly, averaging 48.108 Year from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 65.761 Year in 2016 and a record low of 38.335 Year in 1960. Malawi MW: Life Expectancy at Birth: Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Malawi – Table MW.World Bank: Health Statistics. Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

Malawi MW: Life Expectancy at Birth: Male data was reported at 60.575 Year in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 60.038 Year for 2015. Malawi MW: Life Expectancy at Birth: Male data is updated yearly, averaging 44.488 Year from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 60.575 Year in 2016 and a record low of 37.239 Year in 1960. Malawi MW: Life Expectancy at Birth: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Malawi – Table MW.World Bank: Health Statistics. Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;