Religion and science have been largely portrayed as enemies by fundamentalists from both camps. The divide has only furthered in recent times with the rise of denialists and so-called religious terrorists and extremists. It is perhaps surprising then to find religious and scientific endeavors in Sub-Saharan Africa complement one another in their united quest-one that sets out to save the lives of women and babies.

Low-income countries are plagued by limited and deficient access to healthcare. This reflects on the low life expectancy and poor health bill of their populations. For instance, in these countries, maternal conditions are leading causes of death and disability. Put in raw numbers, the situation is even more distressing: each year, more than 300,000 women die from pregnancy-related conditions and approximately 4 million babies die, aged one month or less. Almost all of those deaths occur in the poorest populations and are preventable.

In no other region in the world is access to healthcare of greater concern than Sub-Saharan Africa. The number of negative maternal and newborn health outcomes in the region tends to be the highest in the world. Due to a distinct lack of resources, access to healthcare may even be impossible to many. And the lucky ones who can attend a healthcare facility may still only get minimum care as facilities are either under-equipped or run by under-trained staff... or both.

A group of small and largely volunteer-run organizations, collectively known as Faith-based organizations or FBOs, is however gaining prominence in rural communities of Sub-Saharan Africa by setting up healthcare facilities. Those organizations typically set up in the most disadvantaged regions and do not shy away from political conflicts or humanitarian crises. At the foundation of those organizations is religion, more specifically, one of religion's most universal message: help those in need.

The Shree Hindu Mandal Hospital in Tanzania handles around 200 births every month, dealing with labor and newborn complications. In as early as 1989, the Ogbomoso Baptist Medical Centre sensitised more than 600 women about maternal immunization in a rural district of Nigeria. Those two facilities and others established by FBOs are typically well-trusted by the community. And in many cases, patients report better quality of care when compared to governmental facilities.

The impact of FBO healthcare facilities is not negligible. In fact, when the United Nations established its set of Millenium Development Goals with aim to improve the social and economic conditions of the world's poorest countries in 2000, it (and the World Health Organization) pinpointed to greater support of FBOs to achieve goals 4 and 5: reducing child mortality and improving maternal health.

With FBO healthcare facilities already making up 30-70% of all healthcare infrastructure in Africa, it makes sense for governments to join forces with them in the quest to providing not only better maternal and newborn healthcare services but better overall healthcare services. By providing FBOs with more support through public funds and by creating closer ties with the government, FBOs can reach a wider proportion of the population and provide better services. In addition, such a partnership also allows for an similar healthcare strategy to be implemented across governmental and FBO facilities. This gives the healthcare sector near unanimous support and a clear goal to pursue.

Religious beliefs of people can also be more directly targeted to educate, sensitise and direct the people. Leveraging the influence of religious leaders can address the challenges of maternal and child health in Sub-Saharan Africa. In a region whereby 70% of the population identifies itself as religious, it is the religious leaders who have the ear of the people.

Increasing the potential of FBOs and harnessing the power of religious leaders on their people though is harder said than done. First and foremost, governments and policy-makers must undertake an adequate review of the work FBO healthcare facilities are currently doing. A review of the scientific literature last year found only six studies which detailed FBO activities related to maternal and newborn healthcare in Africa. This is evidently much too small a pool to work from. Once the appropriate amount of information has been amassed, policies can be decided with the collaboration of FBOs and religious leaders.

But the foundation to a government-FBO partnership is already existent: the synergy between religious groups and scientists or doctors in Sub-Saharan Africa already exists. And even in the absence of universal policies, it has already contributed much to the population. Perhaps such a cooperation can remind us all that religion and science are not so mutually exclusive as some would have us believe after all.

Image credit: Top: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (from flickr), Bottom: Development Works (from flickr).

Reference: Widmer, M., Betran, A.P., Merialdi, M., Requejo, J. & Karpf, T. (2011) The role of faith-based organizations in maternal and newborn health care in Africa. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, DOI: 10.1016/j.ijgo.2011.03.015



