Mulanje Mission Hospital in Malawi is a 220-bed hospital that serves a catchment area covering 72 regions (roughly 80,000 people). The hospital was originally started by Church of Scotland missionaries and has been a part of the region since the late 1800's. It includes a maternity ward, outpatient services for HIV/AIDS patients, a children's ward, and a high dependency unit.

David Saidi is the hospital lab chemist at Mulanje. He grew up in the area and has worked at the hospital for the past 3 years. In July, the hospital purchased a Hypo 7.5 to use in their facilities. David has been overseeing the integration of the machine into the hospital's procedures.

Due to the hospital's size, they are currently only using hypochlorous acid for medical purposes and wound treatment, as their cleaning protocols would require about 400 liters of hypochlorous per day. The hypochlorous they generate in the Hypo 7.5 is used for wound cleaning, burn treatment, and post-operative care. The nurses and surgeons are trained in how to operate the machine and can produce their own hypochlorous as they need it.

David says the reception among the hospital staff has been very positive. The clinicians appreciate that hypochlorous is not aggressive on wounds, and are even using it on their adolescent patients. The availability and simplicity of onsite generation is another positive benefit for the staff.

Prior to hypochlorous acid, the hospital was primarily using hydrogen peroxide for wound care. One of their biggest concerns was the prevention of Streptococcus infections, which can cause everything from throat infections to severe fevers. Research has shown that 180 ppm of hypochlorous is effective in killing Streptococcus strains within 90 seconds.

David says the hospital is hoping to start using hypochlorous to clean benches and operating tools once they have run their own in-house tests to determine efficacy against specific pathogens. If they are able to integrate this into their SOP's, it would replace the bleach solution they are currently using.

"This is a very great product for the African setting and for developing countries," said David.

The machine bridges the gap between rural healthcare providers and larger distribution centers, removing the need for a middleman. It's exciting to see hospitals increasing their self-sufficiency and using hypochlorous to provide essential care and healing to those in need!