AFRICA/ZAMBIA - 60% of health services in rural areas is managed by the Catholic Church

Lusaka (Agenzia Fides) - The V Congress of the Anglophone African Region of CICIAMS (International Catholic Committee of Nurses and Social-Medical Assistants) started yesterday in Lusaka.
The opening speech of the works was carried out by the Apostolic Nuncio in Lusaka, His Exc. Mgr. Julio Murat, and the Zambian Ministry of Health, Dr. Kasonde, who spoke on behalf of the Government. In his speech, the Minister thanked the Catholic Church for her commitment in the health care field: in this regard he also stated that 60% of health services available in rural areas exists thanks to the catholic Church. He expressed the will of the Zambian government to continue to cooperate with the Church in this area, very important for the Country. Among those who intervened: Mgr. Jean Marie Mate Musivi Mupendawatu, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, who spoke in front of more than 300 nurses and Catholic nurses from various Anglophone countries: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania , South Africa, USA, Scotland and Ireland. On Monday, June 25 the Secretary of the Pontifical Council, accompanied by the Bishop in charge of the Pastoral of Health and the Zambian National Coordinator of the Pastoral of Health, Sister Matilda Mubanga, had visited several Catholic health facilities in Lusaka, among them the new hospital of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Zambia, Cardinal Adams Memorial Hospital, St. Francis Zambian-Italian Orthopedix Hospital for disabled Children, and Our Lady's Hospice Kalingalinga that deals with those infected with HIV-AIDS. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 28/6/2012)