Improving the availability of essential medicines,
when and where they are needed.
About the
Charity
Castlepines Medical Foundation is a UK-registered charity which is determined to improve access to medicine for individuals who have non-communicable diseases in Africa. We believe that everyone should be able to access good quality affordable healthcare at the right time, where they are. We want to work with existing systems and harness local expertise and innovation to deliver long-term sustainable solutions for the public, particularly for those living in hard-to-reach areas.
Our Work
Charity Objective
The charity was created for the advancement of health outcomes, principally for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and long-term chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, hypertension, cardiovascular, coronary heart disease and diabetes to countries in Africa. We believe that everyone should be able to access good quality affordable healthcare at the right time, where they are. We want to work with existing systems and harness local expertise and innovation to deliver long-term sustainable solutions for the public, particularly for the vulnerable and those living in hard-to-reach areas.
Why is this important?
Most people know that Africa has high prevalence of AIDS and malaria and the world pharmaceutical industries have agreed to provide drugs at low cost to treat this. However, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have increased in prevalence by 67·0% between 1990 and 2017 across sub saharan Africa but without the corresponding local and international support for medicines. As a result there are many countries in Africa where there are huge shortages in essential medicines where demand exceeds supply. Without a consistent supply of quality medicines, these highly treatable diseases go unmanaged, worsen and sadly lead to impaired quality of life and preventable deaths.
Project Zambezi
Project Zambezi is the flagship project for Castlepines Medical Foundation designed to address NCD medicine supply challenges in Zimbabwe in the short and long-term.
The project is comprised of two parts which will provide us with important information about reaching vulnerable NCD populations:
Research project
Medicine donation project
Lou Normand
Chief Executive Officer
Project Zambezi Lead
Lou is a former clinical research professional with broad operational and project management experience. Based in London, UK, she has worked with research institutions across the country to deliver complex early phase clinical trials for both small biotechnology firms and large pharmaceutical organisations.
Lou is supported by a board of Trustees
Castlepines Medical Foundation is a UK Charitable Incorporated Organisation with charity number 1187050.
It was formed in 2019 to support the supply of non-communicable disease medicines in Africa.
The charity is run by experienced Trustees who are committed to improving the supply of medicines over the last mile to reach those 2 billion individuals in rural or deprived areas who are not currently well served by the current medical system. Read more about the Trustees