In January 2008, following a chance conversation between Belinda Hodge and an American volunteer, the seed was sown to create a medical exchange between Livingstone Hospital and Scotland. 

The Livingstone Initiative then approached Dr Peter Raine, a retired paediatrician based in Scotland with extensive experience in Africa. With his help, and that of The RCPSG in Glasgow – plus funding from a British charitable Trust – Livingstone Central Hospital was invited to select the first candidate for the Exchange. Dr Nthele, 

Head of Clinical Services at the Hospital, said: “We are hoping that this new Medical Exchange will ultimately lead to an Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Clinic opening up in the hospital – a much needed new service the community has been without for a long time”.

The chosen candidate was junior doctor Alex Malambo, who was attached to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill, Glasgow (coordinated by Professor Robert Carachi, Department of Surgical Paediatrics), with an observership in the Department of Paediatric ENT Surgery there; and also in the Department of ENT Surgery at Gartnavel General Hospital.

The Acting British High Commissioner, Mr Sean Melbourne, met Dr Malambo, when visiting Livingstone General Hospital in March 2014. Following his 3-month Clinical Attachment in the UK, Dr Malambo was then sponsored by the Zambian Government to undertake a 5-year post graduate ENT Surgical training in Kenya. 

Dr Malambo will soon complete his post-graduate training at the University of Nairobi, sponsored by the Zambian Government. The new ENT Clinic at Livingstone General Hospital is part of the new surgical at Livingstone Central Hospital.

The Livingstone Initiative is currently working on bringing a nurse over to the UK to learn how to clean and maintain the delicate ENT surgical equipment. This is at the request of the Head of Clinical Services at the Hospital, Dr Kachimba.