This past June, Dr. Olivier Heimrath, a Urologist at Humber River Health (Humber), travelled to both Kenya and Malawi—his sixth trip to Africa since first visiting Rwanda in 2016 during his residency.

Access to medical care remains a major challenge in many areas across Africa. In some regions, a single physician may be responsible for over 100,000 patients, often serving multiple roles—from family doctor to internist to general surgeon.

Dr. Heimrath, along with Dr. Rajiv Singal, a Urologist at Michael Garron Hospital, has been working in Malawi for nearly a decade to improve access to sustainable urologic care. Until 2017, Malawi had no trained urologists; basic care was provided by general surgeons and clinical officers, and complex urological procedures were rarely performed.

Since 2018, Dr. Heimrath and Dr. Singal have visited Malawi every one to two years, offering hands-on training, medical equipment, and patient care. They have also supported the training of six urologists through their Foundation, Urology Global Health—a collaborative initiative with the University of Toronto.

Helping Hands from Across the Globe

The team works tirelessly to raise donations and ensure resources are used in the most impactful way to create long-term solutions. Support from partners like Humber River Health has been instrumental, particularly in donating tools and equipment essential to urological procedures.

“Oftentimes, we’ll travel with only a small knapsack of personal items,” says Dr. Heimrath. “That way, our checked luggage can be large boxes packed with medical equipment.”

Ahead of their most recent trip, the team spent nearly two years collecting supplies and managed to send 22 boxes to Malawi. Among the donated items were 3,000 sutures—an urgently needed resource due to a national shortage, which had limited the ability to perform open surgeries.

Moving the Needle in Urological Care

For Dr. Heimrath and his colleagues, the most rewarding aspect of this work is making a tangible difference in global health. “It’s about moving the needle,” he says, “making urological care more accessible and leaving the world better than we found it.”

The experience also brings a personal reset. “Every time we go, we’re reminded of how much we take for granted—not just personally, but as a society. Clean water. Basic healthcare. In Malawi, you often have to ‘MacGyver’ your way through challenges using creative solutions and limited resources,” he explains.

“You can’t walk into this kind of experience thinking, ‘I’m the expert, let’s do it my way.’ It doesn’t work like that. Cultural context and social determinants of health play a huge role. These trips are a two-way street—we learn just as much from them as they do from us.”