We see health differently. We do what’s needed, not what’s easiest, to stop health being denied.
Health for all is a right not a privilege – a right denied to many by a global system stacked against them. It doesn’t have to be this way. Health Poverty Action acts in solidarity with health workers, activists and communities worldwide to improve health and challenge the causes of poverty. When we stand together, we are all powerful.
We believe in addressing all the factors, or social determinants that impact on health. Tackling one cause of poor health in isolation can give the appearance of improving health, but in reality might do little more than change the cause of death. We work alongside communities to support their daily struggle for health. Our work ranges from making health clinics stronger and more accessible, to directly improving water, sanitation, nutrition, and livelihoods to create the conditions in which people can realise their right to health.
We campaign at all levels to tackle the power imbalances at the root of poor health. This includes working with community leaders to stamp out violence and discrimination against women; advocating to ensure people who are excluded can have a say in the running of health services; pushing for fairer global systems in areas such as tax and trade, and ending the so-called ‘war on drugs’ to replace it with a public health approach.
Only by tackling the social, political and economic causes together, can we achieve health for all.
We recognise that the greatest causes of poor health worldwide are political, social and economic injustices. This is a global scandal which causes unnecessary suffering on a massive scale. That is why we tackle the root causes of poor health as well as the symptoms, and why our name is Health Poverty Action.
Development organisations tend to cluster together which leaves large populations with almost no support at all. People may be living in hard to reach areas, or are difficult to support for some other reason. We make these most neglected populations our highest priority.
As well as strengthening health services we work on areas such as nutrition, water, sanitation, immunisation, and income generation. Tackling one cause of poor health in isolation can give the appearance of improving health, but in reality might do little more than change the cause of death. Tackling numerous factors together saves lives.
Sanisai and Peter live with their children in a remote part of Mutoko, Zimbabwe. For months at a time, more than 50% of families living here face food shortages and 29% children are malnourished or stunted. The land quality is poor and the area is feeling the effect of climate change. Seasonal rains have become increasingly unpredictable, causing droughts and flooding. Farmers struggle to grow a varied, nutritious diet for their family and they can’t afford resources like fertilisers to help overcome these challenges.
We grow different crops for diversity. We learnt to dry vegetables for times when fresh ones are scarce. This year we’ll be food secure.
Sanisai and her family with their thriving crops.
As a Lead Farmer, Peter learnt about the importance of growing a diverse range of crops, and rotating their location each year. This protects against crop failure and helps maintain soil fertility. Sanisai has attended training on nutrition, which reinforced her ambition to grow lots of different kinds of foods to have a healthy diet. Now they’re growing four cereal grains and many different vegetables, beans and fruits. As well as enjoying the taste and variety, the family has also found that small grains help keep them feeling fuller for longer.
A 20kg bag of maize flour will feed the family for a week. But the same size bag of pearl millet lasts 14 days, especially when the grains have been roasted for extra flavour!
In the future, the family hopes to expand their production further still so they can earn enough money to pay for school fees for all their children. They also want to work with their fellow farmers to revive indigenous seeds, some of which are near to extinction in the area.
Just a few months ago, the remote village of Emoneni in Malawi only had one water source – a stagnant, natural well filled with a few centimetres of milky water. The water was unsafe to drink, but it was often the only choice that local people like Esther had.
Esther, who lives in Emoneni with her husband and children, was thrilled when the village was identified as part of the Manyamula WASH project.
Since I married into the village in 1972, the Village Headman has been trying to get help for water, but no one came. In the rainy season, the village can collect rainwater in buckets, but the rest of the year they use the water from the natural well, where the water is white and stagnant.
In November 2017, Find Your Feet and Health Poverty Action drilled a new well in the village, with an easy-to-maintain pump to bring fresh water up from the ground. Now the village has a clean source of water just a few metres away which will benefit the 500 residents of Emoneni.
Before we had diarrhoea and dysentery. From the new well the water seems safe, which will reduce diseases. Now we have the new well, we can use this for the household and use the old one for livestock and irrigation. I am extremely happy as we have been provided with a deep well. On behalf of the entire community we feel the same way. The problem of water has now been solved.
Esther stands proudly at the villages new water pump.
* Charities pay a small fee for our service. Find out how much it is and what we do for it.
