Charity's 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 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) increased by 67·0% between 1990 and 2017 across sub saharan Africa Read more
In some African countries, NCDs now cause over 50% of all reported adult deaths.
Read more
This implies that NCDs will soon be a leading cause of ill health, disability and premature death in the Region, and will have an adverse impact on socioeconomic development.
Drugs to treat these NCD’s have to be taken regularly and for a long time and therefore their regular and continued supply is important in reducing mortality.
The current health systems are concentrated in cities and large towns and do not adequately support the rural population (>67% of total population in Zimbabwe for example).
Trustees
David Grose
David is the founding partner and CEO of Castlepines Corporation. David has been a professional investor since 1975. As founder of Castlepines Medical Foundation, David is furthering his entrepreneurial and philanthropic spirit by seeking the means to simplify the delivery of drugs throughout Africa.
Neil Carpenter
Neil completed his D Phil at Oxford using natural products to create cancer and AIDS drugs in collaboration with Institute of Child Health (UCL). Neil has spent most of his career developing new products and markets, and runs a consultancy focused on sustainability, renewables and the circular economy.
Tafadzwa Mugwagwa
Tafadzwa is a Healthcare Executive with over 20 years’ experience in health service management including healthcare commissioning and investment, operations delivery, strategic planning, health policy formulation, business optimisation and transformation. Tafadzwa has sat on numerous Health Transformation Partnership boards and is passionate about strengthening healthcare systems in low income countries where he supports engagement activities.
Stan Shepherd
Dr Stan Shepherd trained as an aeronautical engineer and medical doctor at the University of Bristol, UK. Having practiced as a GP in East London, Stan saw the need to empower individuals with their own health data and subsequently founded Instant Access Medical Ltd, an organisation which delivers digital solutions to enable personal healthcare record management. As a clinician Stan understands the business of healthcare intimately, as an engineer and IT specialist he understands systems and how to utilise technology to improve healthcare outcomes. Stan serves as Technology Advisor to the Board.
Ken Ralston
Ken is the Founder and Managing Director of Sky Pharmaceuticals, a Harare-based pharmaceutical distributor operating in Zimbabwe and Zambia. Ken brings with him >35 years of experience in the pharmaceutical sector and has a thorough understanding of pharmaceutical supply systems in Southern Africa.