Opinion: A lesson on physician activism from Malawi’s legendary Dr. John Chiphangwi
Five years ago, I was a doctoral student studying the history of medicine in Malawi, one of the planet’s poorest countries. I spent my days in a dusty archive, surrounded by the soft rustle of turning pages. It was there I learned about the activism of John Chiphangwi, an obstetrician who worked in an overcrowded and underequipped maternity ward in Blantyre, a center of commerce in Malawi. When the country’s murderous dictator, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, arrived for his annual Christmas rounds in 1978, Chiphangwi had a plan.
For years, women in the ward had to labor on the floor because there weren’t enough beds. Before previous presidential visits, women in labor would be chased away or hidden. But this time, Chiphangwi refused to hide the squalor of the ward. His colleagues fled, sure the young doctor would be executed. But as Banda walked through the ward, he blushed with shame. Chiphangwi did not die. Instead, two years later, he was working in brand new ward that Banda had ordered to be built.
