A link between universities in Strathclyde and Malawi will offer educational and technical assistance to one of sub-Saharan Africa's most blighted areas. EHJ reports on the project's aims and progress

Malawi's environmental health problems make grim reading; the country has one of the highest incidences of infant mortality in Africa, while the rapid spread of Aids in the region could lead to as much as 20 per cent of the population being infected in the next year. Perhaps it's not surprising then that the country's average life expectancy is just over 40, roughly equivalent to that of Glasgow in the mid-1800s. The root cause of many of Malawi's health problems lies in a lack of access to clean water. As a result, cholera and dysentery are among the biggest killers in the area.

The state of Malawi's education system is equally bleak - female illiteracy, around 65 per cent, is more than double that of the male population. Tentative steps have been made in this area - free primary education for all children, and free secondary education for girls have been introduced - but extreme poverty means that primary school children often forgo basic education, as they have to work for a living from an early age.

The University of Strathclyde's five-year Malawi Millennium project, launched last year by the Princess Royal, aims to confront these issues and offers a real chance for change. At present, people in rural areas are forced to walk around 1km to get safe water from wells. To help alleviate this, the project promises technical support, by helping to design and assist in the production of spare parts for more easily maintained wells. The demand for urgently needed water and sanitation engineers and technicians should be eased through Strathclyde's link-funded training. Although just 20 per cent of the country's population are children under five years of age, these account for more than 57 per cent of deaths, mainly due to waterborne disease and malnutrition. To tackle this, Malawi University plans to run courses for primary school teacher trainers and for nurses and midwives specialising in primary health care. If they are to be successful, however, these courses will need to be tailored to local needs, ie translated into Chichewa (the country's national language) and illustrated. Malawi's health care workers face the monumental task of delivering courses to the poorly educated, who are also the most susceptible to disease.

Beside the Millennium Project, Strathclyde is also involved with a three-year higher education link funded by the British Council in Manchester and the University of Malawi. The link's purpose is to foster exchange visits between scientists and staff from both countries. A number of collaborative research projects and training development have already been instigated. Collaborative efforts include research on low cost housing and health in rural areas and raising awareness about the heavy metal contamination of water sources. A study on Blantyre river highlighted the dangers of partially treated or untreated industrial effluents being washed into rivers, which are later used for washing, bathing and drinking.

Strathclyde has long historical links with Malawi through the explorer and missionary David Livingstone. Malawi's environmental health department is based at the polytechnic in Blantyre and is named after Livingstone's birthplace in Lanarkshire. The long-established David Livingstone Scholarship Scheme, which funds Malawian students to study at the University of Malawi, plays an important part in the link and will be extended to educate 150 students a year. Malawi is particularly keen to encourage academic and professional development and is looking to the Royal Environment Health Institute of Scotland (Rehis) and CIEH for guidance on suitable courses. These courses should generate funds which could be pumped back into education and research.

Malawi is desperately short of educational resources and the supply of specialist books and audio visual equipment to the University of Malawi by the project is greatly appreciated. The project aims to raise £650,000 over a five-year period. For more information visit the website at: http://bubl.ac.uk/org/malawi/malintro.htm