Welcome to the Manali Medical Aid Project Blog

The Manali Medical Aid Project, founded in 2007 by University of Queensland medical students, provides financial assistance to Lady Willingdon Hospital in Manali, northern India.


The Opportunity

Manali is a hill-station in the Himalayan mountains of Northern India. The people are poor and there is a substantial population of Nepalese, Tibetan and Kashmiri refugees in the surrounding region. In this environment, the Lady Willingdon Hospital provides health care to all, irrespective of ethnicity or socioeconomic status. Also known as Mission Hospital, this charity hospital serves both Manali and a number of villages and shantytowns that are often isolated by rough weather and terrain. In doing all of this, the hospital has few resources for further development or renewal of old equipment. They are dependent on donations for the vital services they provide.

Can you contribute?

What We Are About

Want the facts about the project? Download our 2011 Project Prospectus.

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Our Solution, The Project

The rapidly expanding Manali Medical Aid Project aims to pair the urgent medical and community needs of the hospital team with the passions and interests of local and international sponsors. The project utilises UQ medical students as ambassadors directly taking part in funded initiatives during their medical elective in Manali and, upon return, reporting back to sponsors and the local community. This ensures that the money raised by the MMAP is spent on sub-projects in accordance with donors’ wishes. In the past, we have funded the purchase of much-needed medical equipment, the school vaccinations, the training of community health workers and many other projects.

This student-run project is not-for-profit, and all donations through us are passed in their entirety to the hospital for the purchase of medical equipment and supplies/medications. All administrative costs incurred are paid for by the students running the project (with the help of pro bono services provided by Gregory Terrace and Cooper Grace Ward Lawyers). As a fully-transparent project, all information regarding the expenditure of donations is published at the conclusion of each year.

What You Can Do

Aid us in our quest to support the health of the communities which rely on Lady Willingdon Hospital. Read more about us on this website. Then have a look at how you can contribute. Any support is always welcome and appreciated. Each dollar we raise goes a long way in India – don’t underestimate the impact you can make!