Medical Link

The Medical Link was set up in 1983 by Bishop John & Jill Baker as an offshoot to the Sudan Link.

We serve the Episcopal Church of Sudan by providing funding for health services to dioceses ravaged by twenty years of civil war.

The focus is on distribution of primary health care kits, training of medical workers and funding of health awareness projects, mainly in southern Sudan.

Where does the money come from?

• Parochial giving
• Private individuals
• Collections from services presided over by visiting Bishops
• Proceeds of special events such as summer garden fêtes and concerts
• Approximate annual income of £50,000

How do we know it’s being wisely spent?

• By relinquishing control as late in the chain of delivery as possible
• Insisting upon reports on usage of medicines, student performance etc
• Visiting Sudan, establishing and maintaining trusting relationships with our contacts in the Episcopal Church of Sudan and other groups

Who makes it happen?

• In the UK, Mike Maclachlan works as administrator, with Dr Robin Saddler as medical advisor. Both are accountable to a sub-committee of the Sudan Link Committee.
• On-the-ground Supervisory Medical Committees in each ECS Diocese.
• A pharmacy in Kampala, which sources and packs high-quality and keenly-priced primary health care kits prescribed by the World Health Organisation.
• Apollo, a man who drives hundreds of miles over atrocious tracks to deliver our medicines.
• Training institutions in southern Sudan, run by western agencies.

What’s going on at the moment?

• An effective government administration in the South (GOSS) means that our Medical Link must work in close co~operation with GOSS medical policy and not be seen as competing with it. Therefore changes will be necessary.
• Almost certainly there will be less need for primary health kits and more need for training, especially midwives, South Sudan has the world's highest rate of maternal death in childbirth. Our policy has been moving this way for some while We will be pleased to partner the new administration .

Donate

If you would like to donate to the work of the Medical Link, please click here.