Clare Morris is a Masters student at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, originally from Lancashire.
‘It was a trip to Zambia/Zimbabwe when I was 18 that really got me interested in the developing world. Since then, I’ve continued to travel extensively. Last year I joined a team of twenty medics on the Sahara Health Initiative. We were in Algeria working in refugee camps, helping children with Trachoma infections. Trachoma is an eye infection that affects the children in that region, and one of the Neglected Tropical Diseases. The initiative covered all aspects of healthcare including endemic disease, immunisation, increasing the number of medically trained professionals in the camps and public health policy. It was heart breaking seeing people who were already having to contend with dire poverty, heat and drought suffering under this added burden. Knowing how easily cured Trachoma is with the right medication, I realised I wanted to do whatever I could to get those tablets into the mouths of the children who need them – whether that meant encouraging companies to donate the medication, or donating to the charities who distribute it.
After working at Oxfam in the health policy team I joined Giving What We Can last year because I firmly believe that every pound raised for charity should be spent in the most effective way. Treatments for Neglected Tropical Diseases are the best health buys available, and it’s important to make sure more people know about them! I’m glad that by giving 10% of my income I can save lives and massively benefit the health of those who aren’t as fortunate as me.’
