Livingstone Revisited 2024:
From Scottish Missionary to Digital Missionaries
Our project aims to revisit David Livingstone's historic expeditions while concurrently investigating contemporary disease epidemiology and the challenges associated with healthcare accessibility in Zambia and Malawi today.
Our expedition will serve as a thematic backdrop for understanding the historical, geographical, and cultural contexts of healthcare accessibility in present-day Zambia and Malawi.
​
We intend to survey and review current disease epidemiology and healthcare challenges in Zambia and Malawi in order to identify critical healthcare gaps and needs.
​
We also want to investigate human and social geography: half of the global population have no internet access. This may seem hard to believe but 3 billion people are not yet participating in our digital world. We are therefore interested in answering the question- is internet access a social determinant of health?
​
As part of this we will therefore be evaluating the potential for telemedicine to improve healthcare outcomes and accessibility for low resource populations in Zambia and Malawi, with a strong focus on internet accessibility as a determinant of health.
​
We will investigate and tell the personal stories and struggles that patients experience when accessing healthcare, shedding light on some of the socio-economic, geographical, and cultural challenges that individuals may face.
​
​
During the expedition we will:
​
Recreate Livingstone's journey and visit key historical landmarks, including where his heart was buried, and explore how he is viewed within present day Zambia and Malawi.
​
Travel overland by 4x4 and sail across Lake Bangweulu to remote island locations to visit clinics with no internet access, who are cut off from getting remote clinical advice.
​
Bring new clinics online- rather than an 8 hour ferry ride or days of arduous walking, patients will be able to get answers from local clinicians without leaving their villages. This will enhance local clinician knowledge and have a significant impact on access to healthcare.
​
Focus on health promotion and collaboration, looking at neglected tropical diseases such as snake bites, and their prevalence and management.
​
Through our partners, supply innovative solar lanterns and chargers to clinics to ensure ongoing connectivity during power outages.
​
Capacity build through educational workshops, looking at how simple strategies can improve outcomes following major trauma and accidents.
​
We believe that our project will bridge the past and present, unravelling healthcare insights while stimulating innovative solutions for the future.
​