Celebratory meeting brings IMPALA project to a close
The four-year IMPALA project has proven to save lives, costs, and time, with the innovative monitor now being used in five countries and more than 20 hospitals in Malawi.
Members of the multicountry IMPALA project celebrated the successful development of the vital signs monitoring system that nearly halved child deaths in Malawian high-care units. Gathering in Blantyre, Malawi, and Amsterdam in the Netherlands, the IMPALA team reflected on the system’s impact and looked to its bright future.
Speakers recalled the project’s challenges and solutions – from recruiting nurses to carry out the academic study to ensuring the monitor has smaller holes to keep insects out. One of the bigger setbacks was when Tropical Storm Freddy swept through Malawi in March 2023, leading project managers to release IMPALA study nurses to assist in caring for the storm victims.
Besides at least 8 babies being born to IMPALA team members during the project period, other personnel highlights included:
Two master’s degrees on IMPALA achieved,
3 PhD students who are well on their way to completing their studies,
8 papers published – with the main results still to come.
“The combined impact of IMPALA is more than we could have expected,” said principal investigator Dr Job Calis. “The system has proven to be cost-effective, so when you invest in it, it pays itself back in lives saved, admissions are shortened, hospitals need fewer medical supplies, and societal costs are also reduced.”
Beyond the most cost-effective interventions
IMPALA’s clinical hub recorded 40-51% fewer deaths compared to a similar period before the monitoring system was introduced. And 91% of the nurses and doctors in a 116-person survey reported a decrease in workload and stress levels after IMPALA was implemented.
Paediatric nurse Praise Yangairo shared his experience at Zomba Central Hospital in an earlier meeting with the Malawian Ministry of Health. “At times, we could have up to 205 patients, instead of the bed capacity, which is 95. So, generally, IMPALA has eased the workload, and, above all – we don't have the issues of burnout anymore.”
The IMPALA project’s research further showed that:
Even illiterate caregivers could alert healthcare providers when their child started deteriorating thanks to IMPALA’s green-yellow-red display,
Nearly halved the time nurses spent on collecting vital signs (down from 3.3 hours to 1.8 hours per shift),
The system costs US$105 to US$208 per life saved (based on early results), which places IMPALA beyond even the most cost-effective standard of care interventions.
‘Close-out isn’t an ending'
Although IMPALA as an academic consortium has now completed its work, the end product is going from strength to strength. Technological partner GOAL 3 has registered and implemented the IMPALA monitoring system in Tanzania, Rwanda, and Gabon. Currently, 399 monitors are being used in 24 hospitals throughout East Africa.
Most recently, GOAL 3 was selected as one of six winners in MIT Solve’s Global Health Challenge category, after taking second place in the 2024 European Prize for Humanitarian Innovation awards and winning the iF design prize, one of the world's largest and most prestigious design competitions.
“IMPALA started as an idea shaped by the realities of busy wards and dedicated health workers,” said Niek Versteegde, Founder and CEO of GOAL 3. “Seeing these monitors now making a difference across Africa is deeply rewarding. But this close-out isn’t an ending, it’s the start of bringing this technology to even more hospitals, proving that locally rooted innovation can truly save lives and create lasting impact.”
1: Malawi’s permanent secretary of health, Dr Mathias Joshua, receives an IMPALA monitor from principal investigator Dr Job Calis.
2: Dr Jobiba Chinkhumba reports on IMPALA’s cost-effectiveness.
3: Daniel Mwale details his PhD work investigating facilitators and barriers among healthcare providers and caregivers.
4: Dr Job Calis hands an award to the first Malawian project coordinator of IMPALA, Grieves Donald Mang'anda Jr.
5: Key IMPALA team members (from left to right): Dr Jobiba Chinkhumba, Justina Kaunda (TRUE), Kondwani Chimutu (GOAL 3 country manager: Malawi), Jacquline Msefula (PhD Fellow), Daniel Mwale (PhD Fellow), Alick Onesimus Vweza (Biomedical Engineer), Marrianne Kasiya (project coordinator 2024-25), Dr Job Calis (principal investigator) and Grieves Mang’anda Jr (project coordinator 2021-24).
6: Handing out prizes to the winners of the quiz.
7: The dancing kicks up a notch!