Establishment of a Diagnostic Centre in Malawi Currently, the medical services available in Malawi are of a very poor quality. The project partners would like to establish a modern outpatient imaging and diagnostic centre to improve the overall standards of the medical diagnostics services in Malawi. At the same time this project fills a gap in the local healthcare sector. Currently, there are no modern imaging and diagnostic services available, forcing patients to go abroad in order to get a medical diagnosis.The applicant in this project is the Dutch registered company DRC Medical BV. The local partner is the Malawi registered company Medical Consultants Africa (MCA).The diagnostic centre will be established in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi.The investment partners will establish a joint venture.Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)The imaging and diagnostic centre will adhere to international quality standards. The clinic will be certified according to the rules and regulations of the 'Clinical Governance' certificate. This certificate intends to embody 3 key attributes: recognisably high standards of care, transparent responsibility and accountability for those standards, and a constant dynamic of improvement.Furthermore, the centre will develop a pro policy. The clinic will also treat the low income Malawian households for a strongly reduced tariff. The centre will seek cooperation with NGOs or other organisations for the referral of these patients.Impact•	Employment and working conditionsAt the end of the project the joint venture will employ 37 people. The clinic will employ at least 3 radiologists, 5 lab technicians, 6 radiographers, a microbiologist, a biochemist a haematologist and management and support staff. Two years after project completion the joint venture hopes to employ 67 people in total.The salaries the centre will offer are high in comparison to the public sector. A hygiene and safety protocol will be implemented.•	Innovation / Transfer of knowledgeThere is no or little experience with imaging and diagnostics equipment in the country, such as for example MRI and the CT scans. Further, working with hygiene and safety rules, a high service level and strict quality control, can be considered as a big knowledge improvement for the medical sector in Malawi.•	Chain effectsThis project can introduce a higher quality of healthcare within Malawi and can be considered as the first step in improving the healthcare facilities in the country. This project can also contribute to a higher level of training of the local specialists and might prevent local doctors to look for job opportunities abroad.Further, patients who had to travel (if possible) abroad for a diagnosis can now be diagnosed locally. Following the diagnosis the doctors can decide if further treatment (outside the clinic) is necessary.•	EnvironmentThe joint venture will set up a proper medical waste management system. Due to the fact that the medical centre is not involved in surgery and other patient treatment and that all scans are digitalised, the amount of medical waste is relatively low. The government does have a medical waste disposal scheme. The clinic will use these facilities to dispose of the waste.•	Position of womenIt is expected that at least 60% of the employees will be female. The project partners will establish an (outpatients) imaging and diagnostic centre where a variety of services, including CT scanning, MRI scanning, X rays, Ultrasound, Mammography and Laboratory referrals, will be offered to the population of Malawi.