Seed Global Health

10/15/2026

Rebecca Acen, a mother in northern Uganda, survived a snakebite while nine months pregnant.

And her survival depended on a series of skilled health workers at different facilities. Each one making the right call within minutes of the last.

A health centre that recognised its limits and referred her and a doctor at Apac General Hospital who delivered her baby and kept her alive. A ventilator-equipped ambulance that carried her over 56 kilometres to an intensive care team at Lira Regional Referral Hospital that was ready for her arrival.

Holding that chain together was the Lango Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS) that we support to strengthen frontline skills.

It’s an incredible network of around 1,000 health workers who support each other through difficult cases. Through the network’s coordination, referral pathways and clinical mentorship frontline health workers can reach specialist guidance when it matters most
and mothers like Acen get help when they need it.

Now mother and baby have recovered and are doing well back at home.

Thank you Daily Monitor for spotlighting the health workers behind this positive outcome for mother and baby.

Investing in health workers and the systems that connect them is how more women get timely access to the care they need, when they need it.

Daily Monitor

10/07/2026

We're proud to present our 2026 Impact Report!

When you invest in health workers, you build health systems that last.

Even during one of toughest years for global health in recent memory.

Our 2026 Impact Report highlights what we achieved alongside governments, universities, health facilities, and partners around the world.

A few highlights:

👩🏾‍⚕️ 930+ new doctors, nurses, and midwives graduated, strengthening the health workforce for generations to come.

🩺 12,000+ in service health workers were trained, helping improve the quality of care for millions of people.

🤰🏽 The maternal mortality ratio fell by 19% at Seed-supported health facilities, ensuring stronger families and communities.

🚑 At Mbarara Hospital in Uganda, 24-hour mortality fell by 39%, demonstrating what skilled emergency care can achieve.

These are more than statistics. They’re healthier pregnancies, newborns who survive, families who receive care closer to home, and communities with stronger, more resilient health systems.

To everyone who partnered with us, governments, universities, health facilities, donors, and supporters, thank you. Your investment is helping build the health workforce of the future.

In the comments: There's so much more in the full report – read it in full here: https://seedglobalhealth.org/2026/10/07/resilience-in-action-our-2026-impact-report/ #:~:text=Seed%20Impact%20Report,Download

10/06/2026

Malawi just graduated 73 new mental health and clinical professionals 🎓

Our long-standing partnership with St John of God University in Mzuzu has seen 14 graduates in Clinical Medicine (Mental Health), 11 in Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing, and 48 in Clinical Medicine. Each one filling a critical gap in a country where trained mental health providers remain scarce.

We congratulate them all on their graduation 🎉

One graduate, Bridget Banda, now practicing at Zomba Mental Hospital said: "This training was more than an academic achievement. It strengthened the nurse I already was and equipped me to make a greater contribution to mental health care in Malawi."

Our partnership with SJOG has also helped establish daily mental health outpatient clinics across five northern districts, reaching more than 1,000 clients through integrated outreach, and supported advocacy that's improved access to essential psychotropic medication where shortages once were routine – moving education beyond the classroom and care outside hospital wards.

We’re proud of these graduates who arrive at a pivotal moment for Malawi's health system.

Investing in health workers like these is how mental health care in Malawi becomes more accessible, compassionate, and fully integrated into the health system.

Ministry Of Health - Malawi

09/28/2026

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛

With support from Seed Global Health, our students and faculty took part in an engaging Journal Club session focusing on maternal mental health.

The presentation was delivered by Blessings Chikasema, Lecturer in the Department of Clinical Medicine, who conducted a critical appraisal of a study by Bitew et al. (2019), titled 𝐴𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑝𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑟𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑎: 𝑎 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛-𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑑𝑦.

The researchers used a prospective population-based study design involving 1,311 pregnant women, with a 95% follow-up rate. The study used the PHQ-9 to assess depressive symptoms. Nearly two in five pregnant women who experienced depressive symptoms during pregnancy continued to experience them after childbirth, while 15.4% of women who had not experienced depressive symptoms during pregnancy developed symptoms postnatally. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) was also associated with depressive symptoms during pregnancy and after childbirth.

The critical appraisal highlighted several strengths of the study, while also noting important limitations. Although the PHQ-9 is useful for screening depressive symptoms, it does not establish a clinical diagnosis. The study design also limits the ability to draw causal conclusions. Furthermore, as the study was conducted in one rural area of Ethiopia, the findings may have limited generalisability to other low- and middle-income countries, including Malawi.

The discussion highlighted the importance of comprehensive maternal mental health care, including consideration of the social circumstances that may contribute to maternal psychological distress alongside routine maternal healthcare. It also highlighted the need for further local research to better understand maternal mental health in the Malawian context.

Through regular Journal Club sessions, Saint John of God University continues to create opportunities for students and faculty to engage with current research, exchange knowledge, develop critical thinking, and strengthen evidence-based practice in healthcare.

09/18/2026

Over the next five years, our new Midwifery Preceptorship Program in Malawi will train almost 220 preceptors to mentor an estimated 4,400 midwifery students across key clinical sites in Blantyre.
We're proud to launch the program in partnership with Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS) and the Ministry of Health.

Preceptors are experienced midwives who mentor and supervise students at the bedside, the vital link between what's learned in the classroom and what's practiced at the bedside with patients.

The health facilities where training will take place include Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), Mlambe Hospital, Chileka Health Centre, and Limbe Health Centre.

During the launch, Deputy Director, Reproductive Health Directorate, Ministry of Health Dr. Henri Phiri, said "This partnership is strongly aligned with the Ministry's priorities for maternal and newborn health. We challenge stakeholders to ensure the program contributes to measurable improvements in outcomes, in line with Malawi's national 2030 targets."

We have seen firsthand across our other program countries, what happens when midwives are given strong mentorship and support: more confident practitioners, safer deliveries, and stronger care for mothers and newborns.

We're excited for what this investment means for Malawi's midwifery workforce, and for the mothers and babies it will serve.
Ministry Of Health - Malawi Kamuzu University of Health Sciences Pacharo Matchere

09/16/2026

09/09/2026

Our CEO, Dr. Vanessa Kerry, has been appointed the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Director-General Special Envoy for Health Resilience.

As the Special Envoy, Dr. Kerry, will support the WHO’s efforts to champion health resilience as the foundation for universal health coverage, climate resilience, pandemic preparedness, and health and human security.

Dr. Kerry’s appointment builds on progress made over the past three years when she served as Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health.

In this new role, she will help advance WHO’s efforts to strengthen resilient, integrated, and sustainably financed health systems that can respond to everyday health needs while withstanding emerging threats, from climate change and disease outbreaks to financing shocks.

This appointment is especially meaningful because it reinforces the principles that have always guided our work at Seed. It is also a significant opportunity to continue advancing the conversations that matter most: supporting country leadership and aligning with national health plans, strengthening health systems, and investing in the people who save lives.

Dr. Kerry’s role at Seed will not change - she will continue as CEO and remains fully committed to leading Seed.

09/02/2026

A small health facility in Blantyre, Malawi is setting an example of what happens when midwives lead.

Between 2022 and 2025, Limbe Health Center recorded zero maternal deaths, while managing more than 500 maternal complications every year. In a country where around four women die every day giving birth, that's extraordinary.

It didn't happen by chance. Midwives at Limbe had what they needed: mentorship, supportive systems, and the training to recognize and respond to complications early.

One mother put it simply: "I was afraid of giving birth... but here, they were kind. They explained everything. My mother could hold my hand. I will tell other women to come here."

This is the result of our partnership with the Blantyre District Health Office, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (KUHeS), and our donors investing together since 2019 to build Malawi's first midwifery model of care.

And it's working:
38.5% fewer stillbirths
94% of women reporting respectful care
Deliveries up 55% as more women choose Limbe for the respectful care they know they'll receive.

The model is now expanding to four more facilities across Malawi. This is what strong partnerships and sustained investment yield: a stronger, more resilient health system that responds to people’s needs.
Kamuzu University of Health Sciences

08/20/2026

Midwives save lives.

Nurse midwives like Sister Annette Nabushuwu.

Highly skilled midwives like Annette have far reaching impact - not only through the frontline care she provides, but through the more than 20 facilities she has supported through training and mentorship.

And between 2024 and 2025 at Seed-supported Mbale Regional Referral Hospital maternal mortality reduced 47%.

A powerful sign that when skilled health workers are trained, supported, and connected across the system, more lives are saved.

Together with our partners we are strengthening both care at lower-level facilities and the referral chain that connects them to the regional referral hospital.

08/14/2026

Neonatal nurses deliver specialised care to newborns - and ahead of International Neonatal Nurses Day we celebrate their lifesaving skills, hard work, and dedication.

At Seed we’re strengthening the specialized teams in Uganda and Malawi that are needed to save lives and ensure that high-quality care is available for more families.