Acumed Ltd have selected the LION Hand Unit as our 2024 charity of the year.

The vision of the BSSH BAHT LION Project is to use our resource to deliver maximum possible benefit for patients in need of hand surgery in in Malawi through the development and co-ordination of sustainable educational and surgical training.

Malawi has the 9th highest rate of road traffic deaths in the world.  For every death, there are 25 non-fatal injuries causing permanent disability which can affect whole families; in countries like Malawi, one person having a permanent disability often pushes a whole family in to poverty. The Lilongwe Institute of Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery (LION) is a new purpose built healthcare facility for treating injured Malawi patients free of charge.  

For 5 years, starting in January 2023, the BSSH will provide a continuous rotation of volunteers to set up and staff the hand unit. They will be treating large numbers of Malawian patients with hand problems and injuries, but always with the emphasis on teaching and training the local surgeons, therapists and nurses to do the same. The mutual goal with the Malawian team is for the local staff to become sufficiently skilled at the end of 5 years to run the Hand Unit autonomously, allowing BSSH to withdraw to a baseline level of support.