Scotland grants Malawi K395m to fight meningitis
The Scottish government has awarded the Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) a three-year grant to continue its health intervention project, Action Meningitis, in Malawi.
The £595 000 (about K395.7 million) grant, to be spread over three years, will enable MRF to continue to deliver its innovative triaging programme, training local healthcare workers to assess children using cheap and simple mobile phone technology.
Since the project began in December 2012, over 200 000 children have been efficiently assessed and the seriously ill prioritised for treatment.
“The grant will also further Action Meningitis’ work in raising awareness of the disease in an area where it is all too often mistaken for malaria, with deadly consequences,” reads an MRF statement in part.
The international charity launched Action Meningitis because its research showed meningitis in Malawi is particularly lethal, and that Malawians often delay seeking medical help until it is too late. This results in meningitis and other severe bacterial infections killing and seriously disabling a high number of children every year.
“The ultimate aim of Action Meningitis is to make a permanent impact that will help Malawi deliver better health care. Continuing to work closely with Malawi’s Ministry of Health, MRF and partners will develop tools and standards to further improve the quality of primary health care that can be adopted more widely in Malawi,” reads a press statement from MRF.
MRF chief executive officer Christopher Head, said: “We are extremely grateful to the Scottish government for this grant towards our Action Meningitis project. The continuation of the project will undoubtedly result in many more lives being saved being from meningitis in Malawi.
“We are happy that our work will also help to continue to enhance the historical bonds between the peoples of Scotland and Malawi.”
MRF deliver Action Meningitis in partnership with the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme (MLW), D-tree International and the Ministry of Health.
Free helpline, 080 8800 3344, is available to provide information to the public and those affected by the disease, according to the statement.
