SAGLE, IDAHO— The Luke Commission, a nonprofit providing free healthcare in the Kingdom of Eswatini, celebrates a historic 2023 milestone, hosting over 300,000 VIP (Very Important Patient) visits and carrying one-third of Eswatini’s national healthcare framework. Eswatini has the highest rate of HIV in the world at 27%.
Dr. Harry and Echo VanderWal founded The Luke Commission in 2005 during the height of the HIV/AIDS pandemic after moving with their three-year-old triplets and two-month-old baby from the U.S. to Eswatini. What started as the husband-and-wife team and eight local staff has today grown into a team of over 700 serving the most isolated and underserved people of southern Africa.“As we near our 20th year as an organization, we can’t help but express gratitude,” said Echo VanderWal, co-founder of The Luke Commission. “Our goal from day one has been to serve ‘Every Last One’ and we stretch every donation to maximize care for every patient who entrusts their health to us.”
2023 Milestones
In 2023, The Luke Commission:
- Completed over 30,000 eye services, with over 500 people receiving the gift of sight through specialty surgical care.
- Performed 20 total hip replacements.
- Delivered more than 1,100 babies in a scaled-up labor and delivery ward.
- Offered counseling, support, and prayer to every patient who requested.
- Facilitated ongoing training for all staff, equipping them to serve with love, as if each VIP were their own father, mother, sister, brother or child.
- Led over 300 team members through Base Camp, The Luke Commission’s training program that is designed to facilitate inner healing for unprocessed grief and trauma, while cultivating the can-do, servant mentality that has become an organizational trademark.
In addition, The Luke Commission was recognized with several awards and by His Majesty King Mswati III, who in June visited the Miracle Campus. The Miracle Campus includes the Miracle Campus Hospital, and over 25 other buildings, including the Training and Leadership Centre of Excellence and an oxygen production plant, which officially opened this year and is the largest plant of its type in Africa.
Technological Innovations to Ensure High-Quality Healthcare
As The Luke Commission looks ahead to 2024, it continues to grow in technologies and breakthroughs that allow it to serve even more in Eswatini. One such advancement is The Luke Commission’s proprietary digital ecosystem, Luvelo, which is a key weapon in the fight for transparency, providing end-to-end supply chain accountability and creating efficiencies and visibility into every aspect of The Luke Commission’s operations. Luvelo, which means “compassion” in Siswati, was recently named as a finalist in the MIT Solve Awards and is poised to be scaled up as an enterprise solution for other sectors.
In January 2024, The Luke Commission team expects to begin delivering life-saving medicines, vaccines, blood, and snakebite antivenom throughout Eswatini via the nation’s newly formed drone network. Additionally, the team will soon deploy telehealth hubs to allow underserved patients to connect remotely to doctors at the Miracle Campus, alleviating the need to travel long distances to a pharmacy or a health facility.
“We expect these innovations to topple barriers to healthcare access for underserved populations like never before,” said Dr. Harry VanderWal. “We dream of an Eswatini that is an innovation hub for the continent and helps us fulfill our mission to provide equitable, compassionate, comprehensive care for ‘Every Last One.’”
For additional details about The Luke Commission, visit lukecommission.org.
About The Luke Commission
Founded in 2005 by Dr. Harry and Echo VanderWal, The Luke Commission is the kingdom of Eswatini’s largest non-governmental healthcare provider, serving the most isolated and underserved people of southern Africa. At the fixed-site Miracle Campus and extensive outreach network across Eswatini, The Luke Commission delivers health services through over 300,000 patient visits annually and serves as a center of excellence for digital solutions, compassionate medicine, and leadership development with a resilient team of over 700 local staff. For information visit lukecommission.org.
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