• Marissa Bane, Ruth Kaima, Suzgo Mapala, Bruce Cairns, and Anthony Charles.
• Undergraduate student, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
• Trop Doct. 2016 Jul 1; 46 (3): 165-7.

IntroductionThe burden of burn injury in sub-Saharan Africa is high and children bare a disproportional share of the injury burden.MethodsThis is a prospective qualitative study of paediatric burn survivors (age, ≤8 years) admitted to Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe, Malawi.ResultsThere were a total of 72 guardians interviewed for the purpose of the study. The most frequent mechanisms of burn injury were flames and scalds in 44.4% and 38.9%, respectively. Mothers were present at the time of the burn injury in only 23.6% of cases, while 22.2% of children were unmonitored at the time of injury. A total of 55.6% of burn injuries was cooking-related.ConclusionBurn prevention strategies are necessary for addressing the high rates of burns for children in sub-Saharan Africa. The must be focused on mothers and caregivers burn education in the home, particularly as it relates to cooking and parental oversight.© The Author(s) 2015.

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