Heady stuff

On Monday 6th September, 2 Friends of Chitambo Trustees (Jo and Agnes) took up the opportunity to meet UK Ministers for International Development, who were visiting Scotland.

The meeting was organised by the Network for International Development Organisations of Scotland (NIDOS): http://www.nidos.org.uk/

This was a valuable opportunity to hear directly about UK government plans for ongoing Overseas Development Aid (ODA).  It is heartening to hear that they remain committed to  ringfencing 0.7% of GDP for this...at least for now.  It was also good to hear that global links are encouraged and that, in Wales, each NHS Board has appointed a Champion for this.  It is hoped that Scotland, England, and Northern Ireland will follow this example.

The Scottish Goernment has announced a fresh round of Small Grant funding for international development: http://www.nidos.org.uk/news/scottish-government-launches-2016-small-grants-programme-funding-call

We are in talks with top Zambian and Scottish emergency care/medical experts about extending our current Small Grant project on 'Strengthening emergency care communications in Chitambo District'.  Please see our conference poster for some preliminary results: CLICK HERE FOR THE POSTER

The Zambian Ministry of Health (MOH) is enabling access to the free national shortcode for health (992) to all Chitambo District citizens, so that they can call for help free  of charge in case of emergency.  This is a huge step forward for desperate people in this remote, rural region.

Building on the project would entail, for example,  strengthening the current emergency care resource centre, established by this project, at Chitambo Hospital; monitoring the uptake and usage of the shortcode by the community; contributing to improving the emergency radio infrastructure, as far as possible; and providing simulated call handling and first aid training for clinical staff and ambulance drivers.

More soon.