Foreign health aid is far from perfect… but not hopeless! To get you started, these are some of the major problems with the current system of health aid.

1. Aid is often “vertical” – limited to a single disease, technical intervention approach

The majority (80%) of health aid goes to three diseases: HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. Most proposed “solutions” to diseases involved either drugs or surgery. Preventive measures that involve the primary determinants of health (water, sanitation, education) are more often than not left to the wayside, to be addressed by smaller organizations and…

Our philosophy emerged from the stories and voices of our partners in developing countries, ongoing research, and our desire for health initiatives that work in the long run.

 1. We advocate for horizontal, holistic initiatives

Horizontal initiatives use an integrated health systems approach, where primary care is prioritized, community-centered knowledge is privileged, and south-south exchanges (exchanges between developing countries) are fostered.

 2. We believe that medicine must be “redefined” to include public health initiatives, broadening far beyond drugs and surgery.

In many parts of high-income countries, basic public health initiatives, like water and sanitation – pioneered…

The majority of health aid should be channeled into preventive measures that focus on the primary determinants of health so that communities are able to build sustainable, healthy lives. These include nutrition and food security, water and sanitation, and women and community empowerment and education.

Health initiatives need to take into account local input and help familiarize community health care workers with basic public health measures.

Please view the following pages for more information on some of the major determinants of health.

In southern Sudan, “girls are more likely to die in childbirth than to finish primary school.”

-United Nations Population Fund

EMPOWERING women & girls SAVES LIVES!

In fact, education and empowerment of women is one of the most effective means of promoting health.

“Investing in girls’ education globally delivers huge returns for economic growth, political participation, women’s health, smaller and more sustainable families, and disease prevention.” -2004 Report from the Council on Foreign Relations

Within El Salvador “the infant mortality rate is 2% for children of educated mothers, but 10% for those whose mothers have…

“The last time I checked, the specific therapy for malnutrition was food.” -Dr. Jack Geiger

Over half of all early childhood deaths are linked to malnutrition. When 45% of all deaths in Africa happen to children under fourteen, malnutrition accounts for a significant proportion of deaths.

Malnutrition is a health priority.

And we mean more than just supplements. People deserve nutritious food with all the essential amino acids. Community empowerment is essential for food security.

Unfortunately, food production is often viewed as a development initiative. Vertical initiatives to reduce hunger, such as the new “Alliance for…

Why focus on water and sanitation as a priority health initiative?

“While rarely discussed alongside the ‘big three’ attention-seekers of the international public health community – HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria – one disease alone kills more young children each year than all three combined. It is diarrhea.”*

Sanitation is one of the primary culprits behind diarrhea as well as many other communicable diseases, notably some neglected tropical diseases such as trachoma, helminthiases and schistosomiasis. Furthermore, some acute respiratory infections are also linked to diarrhea, leading back again to sanitation. However, improving sanitation is often…