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Lubwe is a small town in Zambia situated on the northern shore of Lake Bangweulu, 785 km north of the capital, Lusaka.
The mission hospital was built by the Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, a division of the Roman Catholic Church, in 1926 and has been giving free medical support to the peoples of the surrounding areas since then. The hospital is now operated by the Sisters of Mercy. The area served by the hospital is approximately 1,500 sq. km and has a population of 43,000.
As in much of Zambia, and indeed much of Sub-Saharan Africa, medical statistics make grim reading to many in the developed world. For example, approximately 18% of children die before the age of five years. Few of these babies even reach hospital. Many of these deaths are as a direct result of drinking dirty water and would be prevented if clean water were available. However, malaria is by far the most prevalent serious disease. Treatment, although cheap, is unavailable to most of the population. Most of sub-Saharan Africa is suffering from the AIDS epidemic. Zambia is no exception with at least 20% of the population being infected. This disease will only become contained when effective drugs at affordable prices are made available.
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