Global Conversations
Health
Global Conversations connect our faith with the world’s most pressing challenges. Find out how you can collaborate with other Anglicans involved in responding to health and community needs around the globe.
Anglicans and Health
Across the Anglican Communion, there is a vast amount of health-related expertise and experience.
Churches often play an important role in connecting people to public health services and responding to local needs.
Many Provinces, dioceses, and networks support health through hospitals, clinics, community programmes and local congregations.
For Anglicans across the world, health is not simply a matter of medicine — it is a matter of mission.
Scripture presents a vision of wholeness: bodies healed, communities restored, and the poor lifted up.
When Jesus sent out his disciples, he told them to heal the sick (Luke 10:9). When he described his own calling in the synagogue at Nazareth, he spoke of release for the captive, sight for the blind, and good news for the poor (Luke 4:18).
This vision of human flourishing — physical, spiritual, and social — is at the heart of what Anglicans seek to live out in the world.
Global Health Needs
Despite historic advances in medicine and public health, billions of people around the world lack access to basic healthcare, and infectious diseases continue to claim hundreds of thousands of lives every year.
Malaria
610,000
deaths from malaria in 2024 — 95% in sub-Saharan Africa, and most among children under five. Cases rose by 8.5% between 2015 and 2024, moving in the wrong direction.
Maternal Health
712
women die every day from complications in pregnancy or childbirth. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 70% of all maternal deaths. A woman in the region is 250 times more likely to die in childbirth than in Western Europe.
Mental Health
1 billion +
people are living with a mental health condition worldwide. In low-income countries, fewer than 10% receive any care. Globally, 91% of people with depression cannot access treatment.
Anglicans and Health Care Response
When a health crisis strikes, Anglican churches often play a key role in supporting health responses. In many places around the world, churches help health services share healthcare information, run clinics from church centres and support the local community.
Ebola Outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda
On 15 May 2026, the Democratic Republic of Congo declared its 17th Ebola outbreak since the virus was first identified in 1976 — this one in Ituri Province in the country’s north-east, centred on the Mongbwalu, Rwampara and Bunia health zones. Within 48 hours, the World Health Organization had declared the situation a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), its highest level of alert, requiring urgent international coordination.
Cases quickly spread beyond Ituri into North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, and imported cases were confirmed in Kampala, Uganda, among individuals travelling from DRC. As of late May 2026, more than 1,200 suspected and confirmed cases and at least 241 deaths had been reported — and health experts have warned that the true number of infections is likely considerably higher, given gaps in detection and reporting.
Why is this outbreak so serious?
This outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus — for which there is currently no licensed vaccine and no approved treatment. Previous outbreaks involving the more familiar Zaire strain could be countered with an effective vaccine; Bundibugyo cannot. The only tools available are prevention, early case detection, contact tracing, safe clinical care, and — critically — community trust.
Anglican Responses to the Ebola Outbreak
In previous Ebola outbreaks, Anglican churches in DRC have played an invaluable role in sharing accurate health information, challenging misinformation, and encouraging communities to cooperate with public health measures. That same tradition of trusted community engagement is being mobilised again now.
The Most Revd Georges Titre Ande is the Archbishop of The Province de l’Eglise Anglicane Du Congo.
His diocese in Aru is situated in Ituri Province, at the very epicentre of the outbreak.
With population density, mass movement of people, and the absence of any approved vaccine or treatment, the Archbishop has been clear that the church’s response must ‘combine prayers with practical action’.
In Uganda, President Museveni announced the postponement of the 2026 Uganda Martyrs’ Day celebrations at Namugongo — an annual pilgrimage that normally draws millions from across East and Central Africa.
Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu, from the Church of Uganda backed the need to follow public health directives. ‘When they talk about Ebola, which kills people, we must listen. We must care for ourselves and for others.‘
The Rt Revd Martin Gordon is the Bishop of Goma and works in partnership with the Church Mission Society. Bishop Martin has flagged the gravity of the Ebola outbreak and the challenges for the Congolese people in facing the disease.
He notes that while the DRC are ‘the world’s experts’ in dealing with Ebola, this outbreak brings new and acute challenges — spreading faster, detected later, and confronted for the first time without USAID infrastructure.
How can you respond?
Prayer
Pray for local churches, health teams and community agencies as they seek to respond to the crisis. Pray for the sick, those at risk of infection and those that are bereaved. Pray for community cooperation and accurate health information to circulate.
Advocacy
Raise awareness for the Ebola Crisis in your setting. Share information about humanitarian appeals and relief. Share stories and information in your church setting. Join with other organisations around the world in lobbying for health support.
Relief Support
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have launched a continental preparedness and response plan. It aims to raise funds to support African countries to prepare for, rapidly detect and respond to the outbreak.
Recent News
‘The Church is on the front line of the Ebola response’: Anglicans act to tackle Ebola outbreak
DRC and neighbouring Uganda are seeing another outbreak of the deadly Bundibugyo Ebola strain. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recorded 10 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola deaths since the outbreak was declared on 15 May, among more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected cases.
Ebola Outbreak in DRC: Archbishop urges need for ‘prayers with practical action’
The Most Revd Georges Titre Ande, Archbishop of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Bishop of Aru, has stressed the need for ‘prayers and practical action’ in response to the Ebola outbreak in DRC and Uganda in central Africa. The situation has been declared a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’ by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Resources and theology
The Anglican Communion Health Network
The Anglican Health & Community Network (AHCN) connects Anglicans working in health and community settings across the world.
It brings together practitioners, church leaders and organisations to share knowledge, strengthen partnerships and support health and wellbeing in local communities.
Co-Convenors of the Health Network
The Rt Revd Michael Beasley
Michael is the Bishop of Bath and Wells in the Church of England and has extensive international experience in health, nutrition and child development.
The Rt Revd Luke Pato
Luke iis the Bishop of Namibia in the Church of Southern Africa, with leadership in malaria initiatives and regional health partnerships.
Professor Janice Tang
Janice is a Medical oncologist and Honorary Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong, with experience in research, education and pastoral care.
