Project planning workshop in Lilongwe, Malawi
November 2021: Co-director of the University of Edinburgh Fleming Fund fellowship schemes, attended a workshop with the Fleming Fund fellows in Malawi to discuss fellowship activities.
Although the Fellowships in Malawi have been underway for almost 18 months, the pandemic has previously prevented the fellows from being able to physcially meet with any of the mentorship team from Edinburgh.
However, Dr Adrian Muwonge, co-director of the programme at the University of Edinburgh, was able to travel from Uganda to Malawi in November 2021 to finally meet with some of the fellows.
Dr. Muwonge spent a very fruitful three days with the Fellows in Lilongwe to discuss progress the fellows are making with their fellowship activities. In particular the team worked on the development of a collaborative project that seeks to investigate the links between antimicrobial resistance and the use of antimicrobials on poultry farms in Malawi.
Importantly, this project involves all six fellows, drawing together inputs from the human health and animal health sectors, to deliver a fully One Health approach to the understanding of AMR.
The proposed study will examine patterns of antibiotic resistance in E. coli isolated from poultry on chicken farms and compare these profiles with those of samples taken from farm workers and the local environment. The project will also explore knowledge, attitudes and practices related to antibiotic use on poultry farms and among farm workers.
The 3 day meeting was helpful and very important and opened our eyes to the whole Fellowship team. During the meeting we managed to develop a projection and an idea of what we will do in our studies. On behalf of everyone, we would like to thank Adrian for his visit to Malawi and hope to see him and the whole Edinburgh team again soon.
