EHA is the world’s largest indigenous healthcare mission. It was founded in 1969 under the God-given vision, given to both Indian mission and church leaders and a group of healthcare missionaries and executives from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK, and the USA. It started with just twelve hospitals and virtually no community health work.
Today this dynamic, thriving healthcare mission agency has become the benchmark, not only for India but also for many parts of the developing world.
The facts at a glance [Compiled from the statistics for the year 2000-2001]- 19 Hospitals, 27 Community Health Projects and 1 Primary School
- EHA Units are situated in 13 different States
- 1384 Staff. 118 Doctors, 453 Nursing staff, 139 Community Health staff, including allied health professionals, and non-professional staff
- 4 Nursing Schools: 3 General Nursing and 1 Auxiliary Nursing and Midwifery
- Cumulative bed strength 1220
- Curative Health Services for 496,562 people
- 55,953 people were treated as in-patients last year
- 24,437 surgical interventions were carried out
- 6,431 were General Major Surgeries
- 7,756 were Eye Major Surgeries
- 16,029 supervised deliveries were conducted, of which 12,346 were hospital-based deliveries
- Community Health teams worked in 379 villages, covering a population of 265,863, providing basic health services and primary care.
Dr Varghese Philip (EHA’s Medical Secretary) and Dr Anil Cherian (Strategic Review Research leader) drove a penetrating survey, based on quality and impact, rather than quantity of work done. The result was a frank, radical and at times almost brutally honest review. This was coupled with a deep spiritual commitment to seek God’s vision and guiding for the way forward. As a resource person invited to attend the final review consultation in August 2001, I was humbled and thanked God for His calling of such outstanding men and women of God to EHA, and for the ways in which the Kingdom of God (the ‘New Way’) is being brought into being in villages, towns and city slums.
What came out of the ‘check-up’?
At a time when healthcare mission is in decline in many parts of India, and
is being challenged globally as to whether it is a valid vehicle for mission,
the message from the Lord was clearly to go out and build, in the spirit of
Nehemiah.
- Building up people, capabilities and fellowship
- Human Resource Development Staff and leadership development
- Christ-like work ethic - ‘2nd mile’ service
- Pastoral care - focus on the family not just the staff member
- Whole person care teams
- Building bridges and transforming communities
- Increasing the impact by taking up whole communities at Block/District level
- Focussing on programmes for special need groups - mainly amongst the poor, areas of high malarial incidence, HIV/AIDS, etc.
- Improving healthcare delivery
- Developing premises, quality of care and ease of access, especially for the poor.
- Building up the Nation.
- Building capacity of non-EHA hospitals
- Facilitating Christian witness
- Catalysing/enabling new healthcare initiatives.
Is the prescription working?
In a discussion with Dr Vinod Shah, EHA’s Executive Director, in New Delhi
in March 2002, he reflected on the first six months, post check-up. EHA’s
leaders and hundreds of their staff are convinced that care and healthcare are
God-given tools for transformation. This transformation of communities will
only come about as the body of Christ is committed to caring for the whole man,
body, mind and spirit. Vinod Shah, who comes from the Jain community, and became
a disciple of Jesus Christ in college, believes that the caring culture is a
distinctly Christian one in India. Patients begin to see Christ in the bedside
behaviour of doctors and nurses, in the outpatient department and in the village
development programme. EHA is committed to patients and their relatives meeting
Christ living in the cashier and the security guard at the gate, just as much
as in the Chaplain or Bible Woman. Each hospital is developing ‘whole
person care teams’. A series of workshops have begun bringing together
staff of different disciplines to pray and practise a more holistic care, seeking
that what is practised is consistent with what is preached.
PRAY FOR THE IMPACT OF THIS TRAINING/DISCIPLING.
Gujarat and beyond
As Vinod and I talked, India was recovering from some of the worst communal
violence between Hindus and Muslims since partition in 1947. This was a tragedy
following just twelve months after the massive earthquake. Within hours of the
outbreak of violence 55,000 Muslim refugees were camped in fear outside Ahmedabad
city, terrified of returning to their burnt-out homes, and seeking medical help
from Hindu or Government services.
In keeping with its desire to build the national capacity to respond, EHA sponsored
a team of doctors from Christian Medical College, Ludhiana (where many of EHA’s
doctors trained at both the basic and postgraduate level) to staff emergency
clinics in the camps. Christian agencies like EHA are learning to partner as
never before. Also on the team are nurses from EHA’s Delhi slum project
SAHYOG - which is funded by the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society [MMA HealthServe’s
elder sister organisation - Ed].
Elsewhere in Gujarat, at Jamnagar city, EHA husband and wife dentists Isaac
and Famit run a flourishing clinic for middle class townspeople, a youth group
in the evenings, and two days a week join the health and development team working
amongst the earthquake hit slums around the city. EHA has only been working
in Gujarat for the past twelve months, but is making a difference in people’s
lives.
PRAY FOR THE FREEDOM TO LIVE AND PRESENT THE GOSPEL IN GUJARAT.
Upscale for Impact.
The salutary finding of the review was that unless EHA’s programmes can
impact a larger and defined population - say a Development Block (100,000 people)
or a full District (perhaps up to a million people) then the transformation
is marginal. How can EHA upscale, with its stretched resources, to achieve this?
Vinod shared a new venture where he feels God is showing the way forward. The
World Bank is funding a study in the districts of north Chhatisgargh State on
the incidence and treatment of three diseases linking the poor: malaria, tuberculosis
and HIV/AIDS. The State Government is inviting NGOs (non-Governmental organisations)
to take this on. EHA has felt led by God to apply to be the lead NGO to co-ordinate
a consortium of NGOs, Christian and non-Christian. If God gives this opportunity,
then EHA’s ethos and methodology could be multiplied to impact a whole
State (where at present the Chief Minister is a believer!).
PRAY THAT EHA’S MINISTRY MAY IMPACT AS NEVER BEFORE, ESPECIALLY IN CHHATISGARGH.
Nurse Practitioners for reproductive health.
In such a male dominated society women’s healthcare is always
neglected, and Christians are called to make a difference. Vinod Shah has been
one of the strongest supporters of Dr Ann Thyle’s innovative scheme to
train nurse practitioners to help fill the perennial shortage of female doctors.
India, with some 16% of the world’s population, has some 20% of the world’s
maternal deaths. In addition the greatest burden for women is the countless
numbers who suffer with unrecognised and untreated reproductive diseases - yet
in rural areas they still do the bulk of the heavy and manual work at home and
in the fields. This six-month course, based at Herbertpur Christian Hospital,
needs prayer and finance.
PRAY THAT ONGOING AND ADEQUATE FINANCE WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR AT LEAST FIVE YEARS
- AN URGENT NEED.
The time bomb that wasn’t
No check-up at the beginning of the 21st century can afford to ignore
the global pandemic of HIV/AIDS. EHA has sought, since HIV/AIDS was detected
in India, to maximise safe procedures in its hospitals and programmes, to care
for the victims, especially when others ostracise them, and to educate for prevention
- using practical and Biblical teaching. Vinod Shah, reflecting in March 2002,
was praising God that the ‘time-bomb of AIDS’ predicted in the mid
1990s has in fact not turned out to be a clone of the African model. Only 0.1%
of the population is regarded as being HIV positive. Nonetheless, the sad truth
is that there is no dedicated AIDS centre in the whole of North India. EHA feels
called to establish such a centre in New Delhi as part of the larger Delhi AIDS
Project, led by Dr Santosli Mathew. Teaching and training initiatives are already
in place in parts of Delhi with a low cost budget being subsidised by Positive
Steps (Glasgow). However, the AIDS centre is an immense step of faith with no
confirmation of our ‘seed money’ at this stage.
WILL YOU PRAY FOR GUIDANCE AND PROVISION OF FUNDS SO THAT A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
TO AIDS-CARE CAN BE A MODEL FOR THE NATION, ESPECIALLY IN NORTH INDIA?
Vinod Shah and I share a quiet, humble confidence that God will provide, sustain and develop the ever diversifying ministry of EHA. The check-up was not without its pain - but the prescription by God’s grace is working well. Thank you for your prayers, support and interest.
If you would like to be involved with the work of EHA, receive regular praise and prayer information, the quarterly magazine, or would like a copy of the video ‘Touching the Heart of India’s Need’, please contact EHA (UK).
