USPG has announced a new health programme to safeguard the future of mission hospitals.

The Anglican mission agency warned that at least a dozen long-established mission hospitals are unlikely to survive the next decade unless health policies and practices change in parts of Africa and Asia.

It said that hospitals and clinics in many African and Asian countries are over-stretched, sustained by declining foreign donations, and lacking drugs and facilities.

In a bid to save the hospitals from terminal decline, USPG has launched Hands on Health to bridge the gap between village communities and health facilities.

The emphasis of the programme lies in enabling local communities to appreciate and act on their own strengths by sharing ideas, concerns and solutions to some of the problems they face.

USPG hopes the programme will give hospitals a sharper focus and locals more say in their health needs, while the focus on prevention can help improve health.

The new programme has already been rolled out in Zimbabwe and Malawi.

It has the support of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who was there for the launch at his official residence, Lambeth Palace, on Monday.

He said: “It is easy to say that prevention is better than cure, but it takes courage and deep collaboration to turn this into a reality, transforming the health of communities.

“USPG is building on its considerable history in supporting mission hospitals and health clinics with an innovative approach that is very exciting.”

David Evans, USPG’s Director for Health, said the new approach would bring communities into the centre of the health equation.

He was optimistic that churches and communities alike would benefit from the programme.

“The basic situation is that excessive demand, with preventable sickness, means hospitals in developing countries are increasingly over-stretched and struggling to stay afloat. Something needs to be done,” he said.

“This is health as a joint enterprise. As a result, hospital services will become more responsive and communities will have better access to the services they need.

“It means a strategic re-balancing of the health equation. By strengthening community-based preventative health work, cherished mission hospitals will be given a new lease of life.

“The hospitals’ specialism in diagnosis and cure remains key, but greater focus on appropriate hospital based services will make institutions more sustainable.”