Up to £300,000 will be given by the Scottish Government to support the training of psychiatrists in Malawi.

The money will help several students undertake a four-year psychiatry course at Malawi's College of Medicine and South Africa's University of Cape Town.

The funding will be managed by the Scotland Malawi Mental Health Education Project (SMMHEP).

International development minister Dr Alasdair Allan said: "Scotland and Malawi have a special relationship and we have achieved much since our two countries signed the co-operation agreement more than a decade ago.

"This funding heralds a new chapter in our historic relationship with the college, the country's only public medical school.

"At present, there are no Malawian psychiatrists practising in the country but this funding will provide psychiatry graduates to take forward the profession in the years to come and teach the next generation."

SMMHEP is working to improve education and training of mental healthcare professionals in Malawi, with teaching support from the University of Edinburgh.

Professor John Saka, vice-chancellor of the University of Malawi, who is visiting Scotland to receive an honorary degree from the University of Strathclyde, said: "Scottish Government projects have already made a significant impact at the College of Medicine, helping to quadruple the number of medical graduates in Malawi, and this new funding will be critical in developing a sustainable mental healthcare service in our country."