Tutu expected out of hospital next week: family

CAPE TOWN - Agence France-Presse

AFP photo

South African archbishop Desmond Tutu is expected to be discharged from hospital by the end of next week, his daughter said Aug. 27, as his health improves under treatment for a persistent infection.

The 83-year-old Nobel peace prize laureate was readmitted to hospital on August 17 after being troubled by the infection, which his family said was a consequence of prostate cancer treatment he has received for 18 years.
 
His daughter Mpho Tutu told journalists in Cape Town that his family were keen to see him back home.  

"We hope that he will be able to return home by the end of next week maybe, and he will take all the medication and not need to be on the intravenous stuff.
 
"He won't make a fuss about being uncomfortable and so sometimes that makes it a bit challenging for the nurses," she added.
 
The family said "the Arch", as he is affectionately known, had received an outpouring of messages from prominent world leaders and South African politicians including President Jacob Zuma.    

Tutu's daughter, also an Anglican Church priest, said her father has had a "detailed funeral plan for years".
 
"That is something that has been highly in place for more than 20 years, he occasionally revises it," she said with a smile.
 
"He may revise some of the preachers, because he has outlives some of the people he has considered. He sometimes adds a piece of music."  

The former archbishop of Cape Town received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 and is seen as South Africa's moral leader. He gained worldwide prominence for his strong opposition of South Africa's apartheid regime.