Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) is delighted to have received a substantial three year grant from the Scottish Government to continue its health intervention project, Action Meningitis, in Malawi.
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 Malawian children every year.
The grant from the Scottish government will enable MRF to continue to deliver its innovative triaging programme, training local health care workers to assess children using cheap and simple mobile phone technology. Since the project began, in December 2012, this has enabled over 200,000 children to be 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.
The ultimate aim of Action Meningitis is to make a permanent impact that will help Malawi deliver better healthcare. 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.
Meningitis Research Foundation Chief Executive, Christopher Head, commented, "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."
More information on Action Meningitis can be found at www.meningitis.org/action-meningitis.