A healthier community needs a stronger health system. In Nepal, Philippines, Dominica and many other places around the world we are building back better, stronger, more sustainable – dozens of health centers, while training and supporting health workers to provide quality care.
A sick doctor or nurse can infect patients or become unable to work. In Tanzania, and other countries where health care workers are scarce, the loss of one doctor or nurse means that thousands of people won’t get the care they need. And the sudden emergence of an infectious disease, such as the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa, can have devastating consequences for the health care system in a developing country where health care workers often face severe shortages of basic protective equipment and supplies. The deadly COVID-19 Pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of health systems in many countries.
In countries where we work around the world such as Liberia, Philippines, Haiti, and here in the U.S. we focus on strengthening community health care – by rebuilding or expanding local health facilities, empowering, informing and training health workers and extending the capabilities of the local health system to reach out into the community and beyond with information, education and services.
“If we are safe, the community is safe,”
Fatuma, nurse at Musumo Hospital in Tanzania
Responding to major disasters such as Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, we have continued to expand our efforts to strengthen the health system.