Archive for 'Malaria'
Last week I travelled to the province of Equateur in north-western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to launch a bednet distribution programme that will protect 8 million people from malaria. Equateur is the DRC's largest province - larger than Zimbabwe. Yet, it is marginalised by government and aid programmes alike. It is physically isolated, straddling [...]
The last time I saw David was six months ago; he's now swapped Ghana's coastal, cocoa-growing Western region for the arid savannah of the Upper East region, but he's still doing the same job: getting DFID funded mosquito nets to some of Ghana's most remote and poorest communities. When I first met David last year, [...]
Having spent some time in Zimbabwe (since 2010) I have certainly become relaxed and really appreciate this beautiful country. I feel relatively safe, in comparison to many other cities. Arriving at Harare Airport, one is met with helpful staff and no hassle in getting a cab - where else is this the case on the African continent? [...]
It's moth season in Kinshasa. Every month here seems to bring different insects. Sometimes it's giant flying beetles. Other times it's swarms of brown paper-like flies. Just now there are moths everywhere - moths as big as my two hands; tiny moths; you name it. But every season here is mosquito season. Being a wet, equatorial country, the [...]
As a child of Soweto - growing up in the sixties in apartheid divided South Africa - I have lived with inequality in all aspects of my life. But over the last six years, I have visited all corners of Africa and discovered that there is an apartheid of ill health. Poor men, women and children [...]
I have just read Melinda Gates’ blog on her new year resolution. It's really a renewal of the already massive commitment of the Gates Foundation to carry on supporting improvements in health through innovation and a strong focus on delivering results. Melinda Gates says some very nice things about DFID’s strengthened focus on results, commending [...]
Picking up where I left off in my last blog, I want to focus on the Manica bed net story. The main reason for my visit last week was to evaluate the Malaria Consortium project that DFID has been funding over the last five years. If you want to know more then I recommend you follow this link to [...]
I have just returned from a three day visit to Manica province, which is an hour and a half flight north of Maputo in the centre of Mozambique, bordering Zimbabwe. The capital of the province is in the city of Chomoio, which is a bustling town with tree lined streets and with a small airport just [...]
As mentioned in my last blog, which announced the launch of the DFID consultation on Malaria (Malaria: breaking the cycle), I went to see Kate Brownlow, the country director of the Malaria Consortium at the end of last week. I got Kate to pose with me outside their office, as you can see here on the [...]
It has been quite a while since my last blog. My excuse is that I was acting as head of DFID Mozambique for a couple of months. However Keith Mackiggan, the head of office is back, so no more excuses and it’s good to be back blogging! Recently DFID launched a consultation on its draft Malaria [...]
