Following the devastating Cyclone Freddy, which hit the southern regions of Malawi in February 2023, UK-Med have been in the area operating as the UK’s Emergency Medical Team, providing mobile clinics in six of the region’s camps for Internally Displaced People.
Recently some of the camps were visited by Public Health Advisor, Amy Potter, who is based in country representing the British Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, which has funded UK-Med’s work in the region. Ms Potter met with patients, community leaders and local health staff to hear about the impact the cyclone had on those displaced by it, and see how the mobile health clinics have benefited the communities.
Ms Potter thanked the team for their hard work. ‘It’s clear that the UK-EMT have been providing vital basic primary care over the last few months to communities displaced by the cyclone. I’m really pleased that, as they leave, they have also been able to hand over much needed medical supplies to support the district to continue to provide these much needed health services.’
Lizzi Marmont, UK-Med’s Health Programmes Manager who organised the visit, said, ‘It was great to be able to show the FCDO team around our project, which wraps up a very busy few months for the UK-EMT in Malawi. The meeting with community leaders was particularly useful, as it gave them an opportunity for them to advocate for improvements and better planning for future disasters.’
Photos by Kondwani Jere
We are grateful to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for UK Aid funding from the British people to fund this important response.
As the UK’s frontline medical aid charity, UK-Med is able to instantly respond to crises or disasters globally. We do this both on behalf of the UK Government and independently. To find out more, and help fund our ongoing work, click here.
The WHO Emergency Medical Teams Initiative (EMT) was formally established in 2010 and came out of the Foreign Medical Teams Working Group, chaired by UK-Med’s founder, Professor Tony Redmond.
``It’s clear that the UK-EMT have been providing vital basic primary care over the last few months.``
– Amy Potter, Public Health Advisor, FCDO
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