By Laura Cenge
Lately, there has been an increase in the number of churches opening up in communities under the name “balokole or born again.” This has raised great concern, for some of them are preaching against modern medicine and seeking medical assistance in hospitals.
Fred Sheldon Mwesigwa, Bishop of Ankole diocese, said that there are people who have come up through religion and have continuously discouraged the believers from taking their medication and other medical practices, claiming it is a sign of lack of faith.
“There are people who come up through religion and discourage some medical practices, claiming it is a sign of lack of faith and people have died as a result of getting off medicine,” Fred said.
It is against this that Christian universities are getting involved in matters concerning health, Health is fundamentally about human beings. There is a link between faith and medicine, and therefore that gap has to be filled. Medical professionals are therefore encouraged to interact with faith leaders in their communities such that both parties send out the right information to the public.
The bishop also stated that some church leaders come in disguised as pastors and Christian leaders with the intent of stealing money from the community.They tend to quote verses from the Bible but then misinterpret them while preaching to the believers.
When the COVID-19 vaccines came in and the government advised people to go in and get vaccinated against the deadly virus, some church leaders advised their believers not to get vaccinated. They claim the vaccine is a mark of the beast, hence many believers are suffering in silence and at the end of the day,they have died.
For this reason, Fred says that the things the religious leaders preach in church affect the health worker’s approach and attitude towards treating a patient. This is because they come in knowing what kind of medicine that they want to be given and how it is supposed to be administered. Others have become their own doctors and have given themselves medication to deal with the after effects of the medication.
“The teachings we give in the church will affect the health worker’s approach and attitude towards treating this person,” the Reverend said.
In addition,there are also other medical students who are losing it with theologies that they are being taught in class, hence discouraging them from executing their work. At the end of the day,a medical practitioner starts looking at the controversies of what they are giving their patients while comparing them to what they learned in class.
According to the Reverend,he urges the government to sensitize and interact with the pastors to work hand in hand with the medical practitioners such that they desist from anti-medical preaching in their churches and communities. This is because many of the believers interact more with them than they set time aside to visit the hospitals.
For the preachers teaching against medical practices,he urged that they set themselves ready to provide evidence , data, and illustrations to back up their statements.
Uganda Christian University(UCU) held a public lecture on Wednesday, July 27, 2022 in Nkoyoyo Hall,main campus at 2:00pm under the topic “Christian University:The strongest asset for building resilient local health systems.” The Rt. Rev. Fred Sheldon Mwesigwa, Bishop of Ankole and former Chairman of the University Council, was the Guest of Honor. The keynote address was delivered by Doug Fountain, former Deputy Vice Chancellor for External Relations at UCU, and Prof. Joel Okullo,a medical doctor,the min discussant.
In the keynote address,Doug mentioned that his church is the most skilled and strategically placed institution to impact local health systems worldwide. This is mainly because for a message to be fully passed on to the public,the church plays a huge role since they sensitise the public and give a deep understanding of what the government has issued out for the protection of the health of citizens as a whole.
“One of the challenges we are facing in the medical profession is doctors with a poor attitude that does not reflect the identity of Christ,” Joel said during the public lecture at Nkioyoyo Hall. It is against this that medical doctors are encouraged to work together with religious leaders, for they are all dealing with human beings.
