We are a group of colleagues working on Lung Health & TB across various disciplines and consortia.

Starting Tuesday 5th May, we'll embark on the race to Malawi, aiming to cover the 8,265km between LSTM in Liverpool and MLW in Blantyre through our daily exercise of walking, running or cycling. We'll be trying to beat 8 other teams to the finish line!

To make the challenge realistic and to level the playing field for intra-group competition we are all using the following conversion chart. 1km walk=10km, 1km run = 5km and 1km cycle = 2km.

Across the world COVID-19 has had a dramatic impact on health care systems, particularly in a respiratory health context, and the LSTM Response and Resilience appeal has been created to support efforts here in the UK and in Malawi.

Current estimates are that 90% of Malawi's 18 million people could become infected with COVID-19. It is a race against time, as potentially 2/3 of serious cases admitted to hospital could die due to a lack of adequate equipment. Healthcare workers also face a lack of PPE. The Response and Resilience fund has been set up to raise money to go towards equipping our partners to manage to COVID-19 outbreak and also strengthen healthcare for the future.

The money will also support the cutting edge research ongoing at LSTM on COVID-19. Currently, LSTM researchers and clinicians are providing expertise to PHE and WHO, and researching new diagnostics, treatments and prevention strategies.

Thanks for supporting us as we ramble our way from Liverpool to Blantyre!

https://www.lstmed.ac.uk/fundraising/covid-19-response-and-resilience-fund?fbclid=IwAR2cppNumLtcSRqL8nZjSXs3NYn7D8Om2SvyGWnsSX_GEMyGbKEPVxdGhcI

Elly, Debbie, Annmarie, Laura, Marie, Andrew, Jamilah, Martina, Liz, Bertie, Kevin, Alice, Yan, Uzoh & Cathy