MALAWI

In the impoverished southeast African nation of Malawi, the Australian surgeon Dr Robert Weedon performed demanding and desperately needed medical work at a time of great change - notably, the end of "President for Life" Hastings Banda's notorious 28-year rule (1966-1994). Based in the town of Zomba, Dr Weedon was the only Western trained surgeon for some 2.5 million people. On call 24 hours a day, he regularly endured the challenges created by the lack of modern medical facilities and a hospital that was packed to capacity – with 700 patients usually crammed into its 339 beds. Part of the overload was caused by Malawi having one of the highest HIV rates in the world at that time, with one in three adults believed to be HIV positive.