Scotland's Links with Malawi
As a former British colony, Malawi has maintained strong links with the UK, and Scotland in particular, since gaining independence in 1964. Malawi, located in the Southeast of Africa, is one of the world's least developed yet most densely populated countries. There is very high infant mortality rate and the average life expectancy is just 49 years for men and 51 years for women. Medical staff in Malawi work in severely impoverished conditions where most of the equipment that they have is very basic, old and tired. In addition, the few medical staff have little or no formal medical training.
The largest medical problems faced in Malawi are infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and Malaria, and trauma as a result of road traffic accidents is also a major cause of death. Every day, medical staff are struggling against the odds to make a difference and save lives.
RCPSG Links
For many years, our College Fellows and Members have worked tirelessly to help improve the health services available in Malawi. One of the most famous missionary doctors, Dr David Livingstone, is an Honorary Fellow of the College and we have a meeting room dedicated to his memory displaying many of his artifacts and various surgical tools. In more recent years, College Fellow Dr Steve Mannion has devoted his life to working in many under-resourced corners of the world including Malawi, resulting in him being described recently as the ‘Indiana Jones of surgery’.
We are aware that the problems faced in Malawi are multifaceted. However, we are confident that we can work with the professionals in the College to continue and expand on the amazing work that some of our Fellows and Members have already started. We aim to make a long-term difference to education and training and, ultimately, hope to improve the standard of medical care available in Malawi.
The College Approach
By devising a network of interlinked projects, we hope to build a sustainable programme of development which will truly benefit the people of Malawi. As an educational institution, our priority will be to focus on education and training initially in the capital city of Lilongwe, however we aspire to increase our geographical stretch over time.
Our programme of assistance will focus on five main areas:
• Skills Training in Malawi including the local delivery of the Basic Surgical Skills Course and other practical ‘hands-on’ training courses;
• Clinical Observations and Skills Training in the UK giving Malawian medics the opportunity to visit hospitals across the country and learn from us;
• Providing educational services and support including installing a Medical Library in Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe;
• Practical Assistance in sending medical materials and other equipment out to Malawi as required;
• Working in strategic partnership with other organisations that are also contributing towards the development of Malawi.
How You Can Help Us to Help Malawi
The Malawi Fund
The College has set up the Malawi Fund and we will be fundraising in various ways to support the implementation of our planned programme.
To date, we have hosted an extremely successful Charter Day Charity Ball in November 2007 which raised £24,000. These funds have been channelled to help the work of Dr Steve Mannion and his wife Mercy, as well as supporting the one-year secondment of trainee surgeon Dr Emily Broadis to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi.
We are now planning a host of fundraising activities to boost our fund and more information can be found on our Justgiving webpage at http://www.justgiving.com/rcpsgmalawifund.
Donations can be made all year round via this webpage and every penny raised really will help make a difference to the lives of the people of Malawi.
BOOKS AND TEXTS - DONATIONS WANTED!
As we are installing a medical library in Kamuzu Central Hospital, we require a number of text books to make this possible. Oxford University Press has already donated many books to this cause and we would be extremely grateful if all students, associates, Members and Fellows would also consider donating old books that we can ship to Malawi.
However we would like to ensure that the material we send is as useful as possible, therefore we have devised a list of texts that are required. If you have copies of such text books and journals lying unused at home or work, please send these to us to help with our project.
As always, every little helps and we are grateful for you support.
For further information on the Malawi Fund, please contact Lynsey Joyce, Special Projects Manager on (t) +44 (0)141 227 3216 or (e) lynsey.joyce@rcpsg.ac.uk.