Our Story

REACH Trust is a Malawian multi-disciplinary research NGO registered as a Trust in 2005 under the Trustees Incorporation Act. REACH was born out of long established research collaboration since 1999 between the Malawian National TB Control Programme, the Department of Sociology at the University of Malawi and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK.

This collaboration was funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) as the ‘TB Equity Project’ and later as the TB Knowledge programme with a focus on conducting research to promote equity in TB care. Since 2005, the focus of the Trust has grown to embrace a focus on HIV, TB, malaria, child and maternal health, as well as non communicable diseases focusing on vulnerable populations.

REACH Trust’s research aims to make health services and practice in Malawi more equitable and accessible for the poor and vulnerable. This includes exploring ways to strengthen the national health system within the context of limited human and financial resources.

We comprise a multi-disciplinary team with experience in a number of different aspects of equity, health systems strengthening, clinical sciences, sociology, epidemiology, health economics with a focus on value for money and costing, health communication and data management. As an independent Trust, we have worked to also develop our institutional base with investments in management and financial structures for coordinating multiple grants and research work. We use mixed methods research approaches including qualitative, quantitative, randomized controlled trials and participatory research methods.

We are currently based in Area 46, in Lilongwe City. The trust has a Board of Trustees and solid administrative and financial mechanisms to guarantee transparency and accountability. It has secured and effectively managed multi-donor grants from international and local organizations, including the Department for International Development (DfID), the European Union (EU), the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) through LHL International, the World Health Organization, OXFAM, UNICEF, Trocaire, the National Aids Commission, and the government of Malawi, amongst others.