Our Work

Medical Care

Crippled by a landmine, a Cambodian father lies on a straw mat amid squalid conditions. In Sudan, a baby boy contracts life-threatening measles. An elderly woman in an Indian slum suffers with HIV/AIDS alone. A Latin American teenager is struck with cholera.

What happens when people needing medical care have nowhere to turn to? No doctor, medicines, or caregiver to bring hope and encouragement? Sadly, those with treatable conditions often succumb and die.

The World Health Organization (WHO) states nearly five million children will die this year from largely preventable causes. More than 500,000 women will die in pregnancy, child birth, or soon after. The tragic lack of global health care is amplified by a medical personnel shortage. Fifty-seven nations, most of them in Africa and Asia, face a severe health care workforce crisis. WHO estimates that over four million health care workers are needed to prevent the shortage from increasing.

Samaritan’s Purse is helping tackle the critical medical care shortage through a broad range of projects that provide medical assistance and share the hope of Jesus Christ. We implement community health initiatives, provide equipment and supplies, build medical facilities, train and empower medical personnel, and deploy doctors and nurses.

About 2.4 billion people globally, live under highly unsanitary conditions and have such poor hygiene behaviours that their exposure to risks of incidence and spread of infectious diseases is enormous. – WHO, 2006

Sub-Saharan Africa faces the greatest challenges in terms of a medical personnel shortage. The region carries 24 per cent of the global burden of disease, and has only three per cent of the world’s health workers. – WHO, 2005

Approximately 30 per cent of the world’s population lack regular access to essential medicines; in the poorest parts of Africa and Asia, this figure rises to over 50 per cent. – WHO, 2006

Currently, 1.3 million children under the age of 15 years are living with HIV/AIDS. – UNAIDS, 2006

Around the world, an estimated 600 million people live with disabilities. – WHO, 2006

Ways You Can Help
Pray Please pray that God will continue to provide direction to Samaritan’s Purse, as we respond to people’s needs, share the love of Christ, and serve the church worldwide.		Give Partner with us in our mission to bring spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Donate Here.