Health behavior and social crisis in the era of COVID-19 in Malawi: A decolonizing approach to a qualitative study

Abstract

Background

The rapid spread and severity of COVID-19 brought major health challenges and dealt a heavy blow to key health services and daily life in Africa, including Malawi.

Purpose

To explore and examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cervical cancer (CC) prevention behavior in Malawi through a decolonized lens.

Methods

A qualitative descriptive study informed by a decolonized perspective was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. A purposive sampling was taken from 17 key informant interviews, including, seven Malawian women living with HIV infection (WLWHIV).

Results

Themes explored were that COVID-19 was indiscriminate towards not only health deterioration but also a social crisis and health was no longer an individual problem but a public and global issue across borders.

Conclusion

To uproot global health inequities, templates revolved around Western ways of knowing over national and global health need to be reexamined and methods reinvented to be relevant to local ways of knowing.