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AHN logo   october 2014 NEWSLETTER
Ebola                                

The Church in West Africa is striving to do all it can in the face of the Ebola crisis. Amongst the range of intiatives, the Bishop of Freetown, the Rt Revd Thomas Wilson, has provided some land in the grounds of bishopscourt for the neighbouring children's hospital to establish an Ebola isolation unit. (Report). A statement signed by Archbishop Daniel Yinkah Sarfo, Primate of the Church of West Africa, calls on churches worldwide to "express their solidarity by observing one Sunday as Ebola Sunday, to pray and mobilize resources for the affected areas in West Africa."

The key Anglican agencies at the forefront of support for the affected churches are Episcopal Relief and DevelopmentThe Primate's World Relief and Development Fund and Us. They have provided medical, financial and educational resources to dioceses. In addition, Trinity Wall Street has just announced a grant of $300,000 to the dioceses in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The Anglican Alliance has been involved in coordinating conference calls and information sharing. 

With the crisis spilling out into the wider world, the seriousness of this situation has become ever more apparent. The weaknesses of health systems and the interconnectivity of West African states have allowed Ebola to spread more widely than before. Us has published the following prayer as we support our friends and colleagues on the front line:

God of our anguish, we cry to you

For all who wrestle with Ebola.
Grant we pray, peace to the afraid,
Your welcome to the dying and
Your comfort to those living with loss.
And, merciful Father,
bless those many loving hands
That bravely offer care and hope.

News from the Network
In this newsletter we update you about health programmes around the Anglican Communion. This is an important encouragement for us all, and particularly for those facing the most acute pressures, as they recognise solidarity with fellow Anglican health leaders. In addition:
  • Our chair, Revd Canon Desmond Lambrechts, reports that the NATIONAL CHURCH LEADERS CONSULTATION of South Africa, under the leadership of Archbishop Tabo Makgoba, will lead the HIV/AIDS Testing and Counselling Campaign early in the new year. 
  • Our Programmes Coordinator, Lee Hogan reports that so far, four Anglican health facilities in Tanzania have received medical equipment from Texas. 
  • Network Coordinator, Revd Paul Holley, has just moved to the UK from Switzerland to take up a part time parish role in the Diocese of Winchester. 
Please do continue to pass on news and learning resources so that the network can strengthen its capacity to encourage and inform its members.

Paliative care

The manager of the Anglican-run Holy Cross Hospice in Botswana has challenged Anglicans to learn more about palliative care and to expand hospice provision across Africa. "Providing palliative care in Botswana is difficult because we have a culture of not accepting death, and this has sometimes made it difficult for us to attend to some patients." The full story can be found on this link.

 

Hospice Manager Pearl Ncube overseeing the development of further wings at the hospice in Gabarone. 

 

Episcopal Health Foundation plans to transform community health

A new $1.2 billion foundation in the Diocese of Texas will help transform the health of families most in need. “Our goal is not just to fill the gaps inside the health system,” said Bishop C. Andrew Doyle, "We’re working to address and correct the root causes of poor health and work with our partners to change a community’s well-being for the better". The foundation will serve 10 million people in the greater Houston area. Further details can be found on this link.


 

 

Africa Christian Health Associations Platform

ACHAP issues regular newsletters to share news and point to trends in global health. The October edition focuses on the response to Ebola and introduces the Christian Health Association of Malawi. Download the newsletter on this link.
          
 

Honduras clinic provides treatment, care to people living with HIV, AIDS

Siempre Unidos is a ministry of the Episcopal Church in Honduras that provides medical care and comprehensive social services to people living with HIV and AIDS and their families. 
The country has one of the highest heterosexual transmission rates in the developing world. Further details can be found on this link.

 



Parish Nursing in Pakistan

The Parish Nurse Ministry in collaboration with the Diocese of Peshawar has initiated advance training courses for Faith Community Nurses. A five week course was held at the Diocesan Centre, Peshawar under the supervision of Mr. Tahir Iqbal, Chairman of the Pakistan Nurses Foundation. This training course was successfully completed by 13 qualified nurses.



  The nurses were awarded with certificates by Bishop Humphrey S. Peters at the Diocesan Centre, Peshawar.

Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza: Update

The Anglican-run hospital in Gaza City, which provided critical healthcare during the recent fighting, is facing a future treating severe injuries and trauma.

In a message to the Anglican Communion, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem Suheil Dawani said serving the immediate needs of the community in Gaza “remained a high priority” for Al Ahli Arab Hospital and its staff.

The bishop was writing primarily to thank the Anglican Communion for the “outpouring of support from our development partners, churches and individuals” after a humanitarian appeal for Al Ahli Hospital on July 15.



    






Thanks to support from the Anglican community worldwide and other supporters, Al Ahli was one of the hospitals able to continue to treat men, women and children injured during the two months of violence that killed 1,663 Palestinian and 67 Israeli civilians and soldiers. More on this story from the link.

Diocese of Egypt expands Hepatitis C services

In July 2014, Harpur Memorial Hospital in Menouf opened a new clinic to identify and treat Hepatitis C and it’s complications. Egypt has the highest rate of Hepatitis C of any country in the world, and the area of Menoufia has the highest incidence in Egypt, with 20-25% of the population carrying this disease. Hepatitis C is a ‘silent’ disease which has no visible signs, until complications with intense bleeding occurs which can lead to death.


         


Harpur Memorial Hospital can now treat the complications of Hepatitis C using the new upper and lower endoscopy machine which was donated by Embrace the Middle East and the Irish Embassy in Egypt. More on this story on the link.
          

The April 2013 Faith in Health and Healing Conference hosted 60 presentations. Reports are posted online: Faith in Health Net

 
AHN Resources

The original AHN website contains a stock of reports on faith based health care and global health: Resources 

A new website has been established on the Anglican Communion pages: AHN website

 
Keep up to date

AHN Coordinator, Paul Holley has recently started to tweet regular updates. Follow on Twitter




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