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About Bethesda hospital

The work includes both primary and secondary level medical care and we serve a population of about 100 000 people in an area of about 1500 square kilometers.  There are 8 residential clinics and two mobile clinic teams that visit 20 points every 2-week cycle.  The medical staff use an aeroplane or 4x4 vehicle to visit residential clinics weekly.  We also fly dire emergencies to the referral centres.

TB and other infectious diseases are prolific, as are malnutrition, HIV related disease and malaria.  There is a minimal malaria risk at the hospital itself because of the elevated altitude and recent spraying programs have decreased the incidence dramatically.  Co artemether had been introduced due to high levels of resistance to Fansidar (Pyrimethamine/sulphadoxine) and Chloroquine.


Plane flying over the hills of Ubombo

Maternal and child health and Primary Health Care are priorities so a great deal of time and effort is being spend on improving our clinic services and health education.  We teach Primary Health Care nurses and have a very active AIDS team, which has a growing home-based care and AIDS orphan programme.

The Area

The nearest town is Mkuze 16 km's away at the foot of the mountain where many hospital children attend school.  It is a beautiful area with may internationally renowned tourist sites including games reserves and beach resorts with some of the best coral reef diving reserves in the world.

Services initiated by Bethesda Mission

These are support voluntarily by the hospital staff

  • Old age home
  • Sewing centre where local people are trained to sew for home industries and their families
  • Student sponsorship program (to sponsor training local people to become professionals to work at the hospital)
  • Chaplains ministry including
    * Counselling
    * Distributing donated clothes for indigent patients who arrive in rags
  • Teddy Bears for traumatised children (including rape, burns, malnutrition and AIDS) 

 

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Copyright © KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health, 2001

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