Mozambique: Area 4 and Favela United launch “Play for Peace” program in Palma
Photo: Hospital Central de Maputo on Facebook
The believers who regularly visit the wards of Maputo Central Hospital (HCM) to perform prayers for the sick, with the sick, by the sick’s bedsides or elsewhere inside this health facility must from now on obey a new protocol.
Whereas before, anyone could at any time and place within the hospital premises say prayers without prior coordination with the entity responsible, it is now mandatory to secure prior authorisation from hospital management, upon request in writing.
According to a note from the HCM, the measure comes into immediate effect and aims to provide a healthy hospital environment and improve the articulation and functioning of services.
The new requirements consist of a protocol that includes, among other aspects, a schedule for religious visits and the adoption of attitudes and behaviours compatible with the hospital environment.
Disinfecting the hands, cleaning footwear in the footbath, physical distancing from the patient, respecting the time of the medical visit and patients’ privacy become mandatory.
To better understand these rules, the recently created HCM Hospital Ethics Commission on March 24 held a training session for different religious groups, to disseminate information and improve coordination between the parties.
The ‘hospital chaplaincy’ model has been adopted in many hospitals around the world, including Mozambique, and furnishes religious services in order to provide love, hope, and faith to those in hospital care.
At HCM, the practice has been adopted for many years by different religious congregations, the common denominator being physical, mental and social well-being.
HCM aims to designate what it calls a “Religious Convergence Space” for worship, and work is expected to start as soon as conditions allow.
The facility will have eight rooms, each with the capacity to accommodate ten people, allowing different religious groups to perform prayers simultaneously, the HCM reports.
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