BICO 2013 Annual Report Summary
Some of the activities in 2013 included the following:
January 2013
January 2013
Training in Epidata (data management software).Menard Phiri, BICO
projects coordinator trained doctors at College of Medicine undertaking
the M.Med Ophthalmology postgraduate training and also trained staff of KCCO in
Moshi, Tanzania in Epidata. Epidata is a free software that can be used to
enter data and then the data can be imported into various statistical packages
(Stata,SPSS, Acess, Excel etc).
Visit to BICO by Prof Robin Bailey from London School of Hygiene to
discuss the new Trachoma Project in Mangochi.
February 2013
BICO annual board meeting was heard in the first week at Chez Mackey Restaurant
in Blantyre and progress towards Projects were discussed. A new board chairman
was appointed and it was agreed that he facilitates the registration of BICO
with bodies responsible for overseeing NGO work in Malawi.
Dr Kalua travelled to Ethiopia for certification as the Trainer of
Trainer for Malawi in Trachoma for the Global Trachoma Mapping Project. Dr
Anthony Solomon certified the training in Wolkite outside Addis Ababa, a
Trachoma endemic area supported by ORBIS.
BICO fully accepted as a member of the Council for Non- Governmental Organisation
(CONGOMA) in Malawi.
Dr Susan Lewallen visited BICO Lions Sight first Hospital and conducted
training for the Global Trachoma Project. Four trainers of trainers were
identified and trained.
BICO participated in a Trachoma Planning workshop in Mangochi at Sand N
Sand Hotel organised by the Ministry of Health in which BICO was required to
justify its capacity as the preferred NGO to implement the Trachoma mapping in
Malawi
BICO Visits to the Low vision Centres in Ekwendeni (northern Malawi), Nsialuzu(
Central Malawi) and Montfort (Southern
Malawi) and correcting visual impairment
in children under the Project funded by the Lions
of Wide Ganzen (Netherlands) and Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmogy (KCCO
).
Dr Kalua’s visit to London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine for
new project on Trachoma in conjunction with the University of California San Francisco,USA
.
Visit to the Global Elimination of Blinding Trachoma meeting in Geneva,
Switzerland.
BICO moved offices to its new premises at Hetherwick Building complex, Henry
Henderson Institute (HHI) in Blantyre in readiness for the Global Trachoma
Mapping project.
Prof Russell Stothard from Liverpool visited BICO on a two week field
work in Nsanje District involving Trachoma and Schistosomiasis Research.
BICO registered and fully accepted by the NGO board as a Health NGO in
Malawi.
Visit by Karin Van Dijk (CBM low vision Consultant) from Netherlands to
assess progress of low vision project in Malawi. Kari was in Malawi for three
weeks and visited all the resource centres that the project was targeting.
During the visit a low vision workshop was organised in Lilongwe at
Kalikuti Hotel, facilitated by Karin Van Dijk and Paul Courtright. DR Paul Court
right travelled from Capetown to Malawi to be part of the phase 1 low vision
evaluation. The workshop attracted staff from Ministries of Health, education, Montfort
resource centre and the three low vision centres involved in the project.
BICO funded eye camps in Machinga and Mangochi district hospitals and
over 250 persons ha free cataract surgery and regained sight. BICO had secured
a grant from the Gift of Givers foundation.
BICO signed an agreement with Sightsavers to implement the DFID funded
Global Trachoma Mapping Project in Malawi. BICO was elected as both the coordinating
and implementing NGO for Malawi.
Dr Caleb Mpyet from Jos University in Nigeria visited BICO to conduct certification
of grader trainers under the Global Trachoma Mapping Project. Dr Caleb spent time in Nsanje with the field
teams and certified four trainers in Malawi.
A team of workers in Malawi competed the mapping of Trachoma in 16
evaluation units (12 districts) under the GTMP. The survey attracted offer 60 participants,
including senior officials from Ministry of Health.
A team of Optometry students from University of Canada , Waterloo
visited BICO and attended a six week internship, which included visits to the
different eye hospital in Malawi and also participation in the Trachoma survey.
A memorable month for BICO. The announcement in Brighton UK at the
International Coalition for Trachoma
Control (ICTC) annual meeting that BICO was accepted as a full member of ICTC.
This meant that BICO can expend its role in Trachoma Control in Malawi.
Dr Kalua visited Hannover Germany and displayed BICO work on Trachoma
under the European foundation for Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Dr Sarah Burr from London school
visited BICO and College of Medicine, to discuss new Trachoma Project
November 2013
BICO staff monitored the Mass drug Administration in Malawi and
conducted a post MDA exercise in Nsanje district, which included visiting over
400 households in several villages to verify the coverage.
Dr Kalua participated in the annual meeting of the American Society for
Tropical Medicine (ASTM) in Washington DC, USA.
Professor Robin Bailey and Dr John Hart visited BICO and College of
Medicine to discuss the new Trachoma project.
Visit to Kenya to discuss the African Health Systems Initiative (AHSI)
funded by IDRC.
Staff from BICO contributed to over 11 peer reviewed articles 8 of
which were accepted and approved in different journal. Five articles have
already come in 2013 out and 3 will come out in early 2014. Check out
publication in 2014.
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