ELCA NEWS SERVICE
August 14, 2008
ELCA-Supported Hospital to Open in Tanzania in October 2008
08-141-JB
ARUSHA, Tanzania (ELCA) -- A new, state-of-the-art medical
facility, designed to provide holistic care, is scheduled to open
here in October thanks in part to the financial support of
members and congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA), the ELCA Northern Illinois Synod and other
donors.
The new 150-bed Arusha Lutheran Medical Center, the Selian
Lutheran Hospital and its Arusha Town Clinic here are facilities
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) and the
ELCT Diocese in Arusha Region. The ELCA Northern Illinois Synod
is a companion synod of the diocese.
The $9 million Arusha Lutheran Medical Center will help
address a lack of hospital beds in this area and provide
specialty services to patients, said Dr. Mark Jacobson.
Jacobson, a physician and director of Selian Lutheran Hospital,
is part of the ELCA Global Mission team in Tanzania, serving with
the ELCT.
The new medical center will serve people living in poverty,
Jacobson said to the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop
and president of the Lutheran World Federation, during Hanson's
visit to the new hospital in June. Since 1954 Lutherans have
provided medical services to the people in this area. Maasai
people represent the largest portion of the population served,
Jacobson said.
The Lutherans' work here is holistic, serving patients'
physical, emotional and spiritual needs, Jacobson said.
Lutheran medical personnel treat trauma, such as burns, a
variety of infectious diseases, such as HIV and AIDS, and provide
services such as plastic surgery and orthopedic care. In 1999 a
hospice program was started, bringing together medical personnel
and community prayer teams. More than 2,000 people today are
cared for in their homes, helped by more than 200 volunteers from
area congregations, Jacobson said.
In Tanzania AIDS is the leading cause of adult death,
reducing the average life expectancy today to 47 years of age,
Jacobson said. Tanzania has lost about 25 percent of its
qualified teachers to AIDS, Jacobson said.
"Here in Africa, we have 90 percent of the patients and 10
percent of the global resources to struggle with this disease,"
he said.
The medical community's response includes education and
awareness raising, plus counseling and treatment with
antiretroviral therapy. About 2,500 people are being cared for
in Selian's HIV and AIDS program, he said.
Jacobson credited the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief (PEPFAR), which he called "a powerful tool that we have in
Africa." The program, initiated by U.S. President George W. Bush
and signed into law in 2003, has greatly helped people in Africa
and faith-based organizations that serve them. Jacobson said the
HIV and AIDS program here gets about $1 million a year, with
90 percent of it funded by PEPFAR. This summer Congress
reauthorized PEPFAR, and Bush signed the reauthorization July 30.
"My first response is overwhelming gratitude to God for what
God is doing through you," Hanson told medical staff. Combining
health care, education and Word and Sacrament ministry is "a
wonderful gift that you are calling us to in this whole church,"
he said.
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Information about Selian Lutheran Medical Center is at
http://selianlh.habari.co.tz/alh.htm on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
