Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) Healthcare in Kwara State, Nigeria: A Case Study of Leprosy Hospital, Oke-Igbala, Omu-Aran

Abstract

Healthcare services utilization among people in Kwara State and, by extension, nationwide is critical for ensuring their health and well-being. The study assessed the contributions of Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) to healthcare services in Kwara State. It examined the impact of ECWA Hospital on the church and the wider community. This was with a view to determining the importance of this medical institution to the development of the church and the society. The study adopted historical and qualitative methods to examine the emergence of ECWA’s medical institution, especially its leprosy services, and the responses of some workers and patients to obtain the desired information. The study discovered that ECWA’s medical institution emerged in the early 1940s as a result of the medical needs of the populace, especially with the high infant mortality rate that ravaged the country during that period and the suffering of people from several health challenges, which included leprosy and sore. However, the church does not only attend to leprosarium health services; it provides healthcare services for other forms of sickness. The historical method was adopted alongside the utilization of books, journals, internet sources, and oral interviews. The study concluded that ECWA has had a positive impact on the health, religious, and economic life of the people in Kwara State and beyond.