For many years, members of staff at Hampshire Hospitals, with support from the University of Winchester, have carried out a number of global health initiatives and projects around the world.
Below, we have highlighted our most established global health links, which are partnerships the trust developed over 10 years ago, alongside some of our other key initiatives.
For more information on our global health work, contact: Heather Bennett by emailing heather.bennett@hhft.nhs.uk
In 2005, Hampshire Hoima Hospitals Charity was set up to develop a long-term relationship between our Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital and the Hoima Referral Hospital in the Hoima region of Uganda. For many years now, visits to Hoima have been from those at Hampshire Hospitals, as well as those from other hospitals to make a real impact on their community services and it’s people. Primarily, group focuses include maternity, neonates, paediatrics and anaesthetics. These visits have had an enduring impact on the hospital’s ways of working, infrastructure, clinical knowledge, collaborative working and professional relationships. These visits to Hoima have often focused on working alongside staff at the Hoima Hospital; providing teaching to staff and students while developing particular aspects of service, including neonatal resuscitation. Work with the Hoima Referral Hospital continues through Hampshire Hoima Hospitals Charity, which can be read about in more detail through the link below.
The Kimbu Mary Cancer Foundation (KMCF) was founded by Lesi Ndasi, a clinical matron and public health advocate, in memory of her mother who tragically passed away from breast cancer at the age of 59. Her mother's delayed diagnosis, driven by the stigma and cultural taboos surrounding cancer in Cameroon, inspired Lesi to dedicate her career to raising awareness, particularly in Black communities both in the UK and in Cameroon.
KMCF was born out of a powerful personal journey, combining professional nursing experience, a Master's degree in Public Health, and a commitment to tackling misinformation, shame, and silence around breast cancer. What began as a local awareness initiative has now grown into an international campaign, supported by partnerships including Macmillan Cancer Support, with activities held in London, Reading, and across major cities in Cameroon including Limbe, Douala, and Yaoundé.
KMCF aims to:
Raise awareness about breast cancer symptoms, screening, and early detection through community outreach and educational campaigns.
Challenge stigma and cultural myths surrounding cancer through public discussions and media engagement.
Support access to care by subsidising screening (covering up to 80% of costs) and treatment, including chemotherapy (up to 70% subsidised).
Learn more about Lesi and her work via this news story here.
First begun in November 2018, this project is a piece of collaborative work with The Tanzania Surgical Association – under the auspices of Madame President Catherin Mlelwa (specialist surgeon, paediatrics). Colleagues from Hampshire Hospitals, as well as other trusts, alongside researchers at the University of Winchester continue to collaborate on this work as the project progresses.
Primarily, this project involves training surgeons in the technique of mesh hernia repair in their local facility. Part of this training incorporates the preparation of affordable surgical mesh so that they can become autonomous in their delivery of service.
This project adopts a well-established procedure using mesh for hernia repair, rather than a traditional suture plication technique. Using this approach will bring Tanzanian hernia repair to the same gold standard practiced by the UK. If every hernia was repaired today in Tanzania with mesh, in 5 years there would be 4,000-8,000 recurrences, rather than 160,000-320,000 with a suture repair.
The cost of commercial mesh is prohibitive for most of the population. The costs of inguinal hernia repair in Tanzania ranges from 50k TZS in smaller centres, up to 600k TZS in some of the larger centres. To use a commercial mesh adds a further 250k-350k TZS to the price. Furthermore, as mesh is only rarely used, expertise in this technique is thus also limited.
There is a novel approach to mesh surgery, that was developed and pioneered in India and subsequently adopted and rigorously tested by the UK based charitable organisation Hernia International (they have repaired over 10,000 hernias worldwide with this material). This uses a very particular form of mosquito netting (which has comparable composition to standard commercial mesh) for the prosthesis. This material has been rigorously tested to ensure its comparability, with the results published in the medical literature .
By reducing the cost of the mesh to almost zero (once some basic infrastructure is in place), it thus opens up the opportunity of revolutionising hernia surgery in Tanzania.
This project is supported by 'Surgical teams Working in aFrica Together for Safer Surgery' (SWIFTSS), who help fund and enable work.
For more information on the project, or to get involved in this work, contact:
Wessex Global Stroke Partnerships (WGSP strives to improve outcomes for people with stroke through partnership, education, and empowerment. They currently (2025) have partners in Ghana, The Gambia, and Zambia.
Formed in 2009, WGSP, (formerly Wessex Ghana Stroke Partnership) brings together healthcare professionals predominantly from Wessex in the UK, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH), and Ho Teaching Hospital (HTH) in Ghana, Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital (EFSTH) in The Gambia, and clinicians working with the Neurological Association of Zambia. They are a multidisciplinary team collaborating together virtually and face-to-face where possible, to improve care for people with stroke. This is achieved through making knowledge about stroke accessible, sharing and adapting clinical and leadership skills, and working together to strengthen systems. They strive to support the development of stroke services in a way that is culturally relevant and where improvements can be objectively measured, thereby leading to real and sustainable changes to patient care. The ultimate goal is to improve morbidity and mortality through the introduction of organised multidisciplinary stroke care.
WGSP is supported by the Global health Partnerships (formerly THET) which is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
For more information on the project, or to get involved in this work, contact:
