Africa Grants Programme

This round of grants running from 2020-2021 aims to reduce morbidity and mortality from conditions requiring essential surgical intervention and enhance patient safety as a result of improved anaesthetic care through the training of health workers.

The aim of this stream is to improve access to, and the availability of, quality surgery and/or anaesthetic care for maternal, neonatal or paediatric surgical conditions.

The following partnerships have been successful in receiving grants:

Development of training for treatment and surgical care for walking children with delayed presenting clubfoot in Ethiopia.

• UK Partner: Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford (NDORMS)
• LMIC Partner: CURE Ethiopia Children’s Hospital

AIM: To increase the capacity of health workers (involving a range of cadres: surgeons, physios, and clinical officers) in surgical management of delayed presenting clubfoot in walking children, in the underserved population in Ethiopia. To do this, the project will develop and pilot a one-day training course and materials, train and mentor new trainers, and then roll-out the training course. The project aims to strengthen the workforce, improve surgical capacity, and improve both national and regional surgical training capacity for children with clubfoot and with clubfoot care for older children.

Development of a regional anaesthesia service at University Teaching Hospital, Ndola Central Hospital and Arthur Davison Children’s Hospital, Zambia.

• UK Partner: Global Anaesthesia Development Project
• LMIC Partner: Society of Anesthetists of Zambia (SAZ)

AIM: To increase capacity for regional anaesthesia in order to provide a safe effective alternative to general anaesthesia, thereby conserving resources for cases where a general anaesthetic is necessary. The project has been developed to address this training need for regional anaesthesia and develop a service which successfully engages other health professionals.

Perioperative management of obstetric haemorrhage in Mbeya, Tanzania.

• UK Partner: University College London
• LMIC Partner: University of Dar es Salaam – Mbeya College of Health and Allied Sciences

AIM: To reduce the maternal mortality rates through competent management of perioperative of obstetric haemorrhage. To do this, the project will use a multidisciplinary training approach, with a mix of remote and face-to-face training methods, to offer a Continued Professional Development to health workers in obstetric care over a 10-month period. Health workers from obstetric and anaesthetic departments across four hospitals will develop skills in four elements of obstetric haemorrhage.

Paediatric anaesthesia training for Anaesthetic Clinical Officers (ACOs) at Kamuzu Central Hospital, Malawi.

• UK Partner: Kids of Malawi UK
• LMIC Partner: Kamuzu Central Hospital

AIM: The heart of this project is tailored, context specific apprentice style training in the provision of safe paediatric anaesthesia in an LMIC environment. The project will be delivered in 2 complimentary tranches: a 3-month internship at AIC Kijabe Hospital (Kenya) and a 3-month mentorship in Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) provided by volunteer UK specialist paediatric anaesthetist(s).

Under the round of grants running from 2019 to 2020, funds were awarded to projects designed to improve the standards of clinical training (at all education levels), the technical skills of staff, or the efficiency and capacity within healthcare systems.

Projects under the AGP 2019-20 focused on strengthening the healthcare workforce in one of the following two target areas:

1. Essential Surgical and Anaesthetic Care: the aim of this stream is to improve the access to, and availability of, quality essential surgery and anaesthetic care, particularly for maternal, neonatal or paediatric surgical conditions.
2. Community Healthcare: this stream focuses on increasing the availability and quality of essential healthcare (including attended births) and health information to underserved populations, including women and children, by training those who work and serve on the frontline of healthcare systems.

READ OUR IMPACT REPORT HERE.

The following partnerships were successful in receiving grants:

• Exploring multidisciplinary problems in breast cancer investigation, diagnosis and specialist care in Zimbabwe
  • Stream 1: Essential Surgical and Anaesthetic Care
  • UK Partner: Association of Breast Surgery of Great Britain and Ireland
  • LMIC Partner: Bulawayo Breast Surgery Forum/United Bulawayo Hospitals
• Improving the capacity for delivering Orthopaedic care to Barhir Dar and the surrounding Amhara region through sustained teaching and training in Ethiopia
  • Stream 1: Essential Surgical and Anaesthetic Care
  • UK Partner: Bristol Children’s Hospital
  • LMIC Partner: Tibebe Ghion Specialized Hospital
• Gambia Anaesthesia Development Project
  • Stream 1: Essential Surgical and Anaesthetic Care
  • UK Partner: World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists – UK
  • LMIC Partner: Anesthetists’ Society of The Gambia

• Development of the Ethiopia Anaesthesia Development Program
  • Stream 1: Essential Surgical and Anaesthetic Care
  • UK Partner: Global Anaesthesia Development Program
  • LMIC Partner: Addis Ababa University and Black Lion Hospital

• Developing and implementing a Package of Safer Surgery Interventions in Kongo Central Province, DRC
  • Stream 1: Essential Surgical and Anaesthetic Care
  • UK Partner: King’s College London
  • LMIC Partner: Le Ministère Provincial de la Santé et Education (HPSE) Kongo Central

• Triage and Safer Surgery in Hargeisa Group Hospital, Somaliland
  • Stream 1: Essential Surgical and Anaesthetic Care
  • UK Partner: King’s College London
  • LMIC Partner: Hargeisa Group Hospital
• 20 Quality Improvement Projects in Perioperative Care as part of Bachelor of Science (BSC) in Anaesthesia, Zambia
  • Stream 1: Essential Surgical and Anaesthetic Care
  • UK Partner: Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
  • LMIC Partner: Ministry of Health, Zambia
• Advancing Access to Critical Care Education (AACCE) Stage 2, Zambia
  • Stream 1: Essential Surgical and Anaesthetic Care
  • UK Partner: Birmingham City University
  • LMIC Partner: Lusaka College of Nursing
• Development of a partnership with a view to develop palliative care services for children in The Gambia
  • Stream 2: Community Healthcare
  • UK Partner: University of Edinburgh
  • LMIC Partner: Ministry of Health Gambia
• Development of Health Partnership to address ‘task shifting’ emergency dental care to Clinical Officers in rural Malawi
  • Stream 2: Community Healthcare
  • UK Partner: Bridge2Aid
  • LMIC Partner: Dental Association of Malawi
• Malawi-Scotland Maternal Mental Health Partnership
  • Stream 2: Community Healthcare
  • UK Partner: Maternal Mental Health Scotland
  • LMIC Partner: St John of God Hospitaller Services
• Training Health Workers to Prevent Skin Cancer among People with Albinism in Malawi
  • Stream 2: Community Healthcare
  • UK Partner: Standing Voice (NGO)
  • The Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi
• Suicide Prevention Training in Health Centres in Gulu, Northern Uganda
  • Stream 2: Community Healthcare
  • UK Partner: Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust
  • LMIC Partner: District Health Office Gulu
• Integrating an evidence based early intervention programme for young children with developmental disability into the public health system in Rwanda
  • Stream 2: Community Healthcare
  • UK Partner: University College London Hospitals
  • LMIC Partner: Partners In Health/Inshuti Mu Buzima