The impact of precipitation on ANC service utilisation and healthcare access in Malawi
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Malawi is vulnerable to climate-related shocks, which are projected to worsen. Whilst some dimensions of this vulnerability have been characterised, little is known about healthcare sector resilience. Coupling facility-specific data on antenatal care (ANC) service provision in Malawi with gridded precipitation data from 2012-2024 we use linear regression analyses to characterise the historic relationship between precipitation and healthcare access. We estimate that precipitation negatively impacted ANC service utilisation in Malawi, with up to 1 in 20 appointments disrupted annually in some districts. Projecting further to 2060 indicates that, cumulatively, up to 250,000 pregnancies could be affected. Notably, if precipitation patterns from 1941 to 1953 had persisted into the 21st century, disruptions between 2012 and 2024 would be a hundred times less frequent, highlighting the significant influence of anthropogenic climate change on healthcare access. In a country already facing high maternal and neonatal mortality, such disruptions could further hinder access to care and worsen health outcomes. To mitigate this, interventions should focus on preserving or improving the physical accessibility of facilities, particularly through resilient transport services and road networks.
Date Issued
2025-10-29
Date Acceptance
2025-09-23
Citation
Scientific Reports, 2025, 15
ISSN
2045-2322
Publisher
Nature Portfolio
Journal / Book Title
Scientific Reports
Volume
15
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2025 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.04.15.25325855
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
37896
Date Publish Online
2025-10-29