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Health

Health

Improve quality of life and focus on preventative measures

Give to provide emergency medical care, nutrition and ongoing treatment

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For children living in poverty, sickness and disease can be life threatening without access to timely medical support and intervention.

Why health is so important

HIV & girls

Girls account for nearly two-thirds of all new HIV infections among adolescents (15-19 years old)

Child Malaria deaths

More than three quarters of all malaria deaths worldwide occur in children under five

Undernourished children

Close to one-fifth of all children under five remain undernourished

Children missing out on vaccination

An estimated 19.4 million infants worldwide miss out on basic vaccines

Sources: UNAIDS; WHO; World Bank

Maintaining good physical health is an important part of Compassion’s Child Sponsorship Program. But this represents a significant challenge within the context of poverty and disadvantaged communities.

Through generous supporters, the Health Critical Need covers expenses when unforeseen circumstances in a child’s life arise such as accidents, disease or the need for surgery. It means children in Compassion’s programs can receive the specific care and treatment they need to remain healthy.

This may include:

  • Costs of surgery
  • Treatment for illness or injury
  • Provision of food and nutritional support for malnourished children
  • Vision, hearing and dental needs
  • Mobility needs
  • Specialist care and support

When you give to Health you also invest in initiatives that improve quality of life and focus on preventative measures. This means children will learn to keep themselves healthy throughout their lives.



See your latest impact through Health

See how your generosity changed the lives of children this year.
Download our Health Impact Report.

See my impact

Health Stories

Feature Story
28 Mar, 2024

The Miracle Child: Joy’s Story

“Vicky called me because Joy was burning with fever,” says Josefina. “I went there right away. She had a 40-degree fever when they checked. The church staff tried to bring her temperature down. I told my husband to come home from work. Then we started looking for a hospital.”.. Read more

02 Jul, 2020

How to Pray for Your Sponsored Child and Their Family

Want to pray for your sponsored child, but not sure where to begin? Here are three tips to get you started!.. Read more

17 Apr, 2020

How Do Pandemics Affect the Poor?

For the children and their families living in poverty, social distancing and access to medical care can be difficult. This means that during a pandemic, the poor are unevenly affected and among the most vulnerable. .. Read more

FAQs

  • What are the current ways of supporting Mums and Babies?

    You can support Mums and Babies in a number of ways, either with a once-only donation or ongoing support.

    Here are some of the ways you can choose to give:  

    • A once-off donation of your choice to Mums and Babies will support young families worldwide and provide emergency care for vulnerable children.

    • $12 per month, contributed to Compassion's Critical Needs alongside child sponsorship, supports Mums and Babies globally and provides emergency care for vulnerable children.

    • A $20 once-off donation for a Care for a New Mum Gift of Compassion™, which will be used where support is most needed.

    • A $40 once-off donation for a baby essentials kit through GIFTSOFCOMPASSION™ gives a mum all the necessary supplies to care for her newborn, such as blankets and soaps.

    • A $260 once-off donation for a Start of Life Bundle. This GIFTSOFCOMPASSION™ provides an expectant mum living in poverty with crucial ante and postnatal care.

    • $15,000 once-off donation through Gifts of Compassion™ will nurture a Mums and Babies survival project in a specific community and provide life-saving support to vulnerable mothers and their babies.

  • Where does Compassion Mums and Babies operate?

    Compassion Mums and Babies works in over 25 developing countries to prevent premature death, secure good health and enable positive development in the youngest, most vulnerable children.

    Mums and Babies always operates through a survival project at the Compassion centre in local communities. It is the first phase of our holistic child development model. From age one, children will transition from Mums and Babies into the Child Sponsorship Program.

    You can

    • Give to Mums and Babies
    • Learn more about the Child Sponsorship Program
  • If I give to Critical Needs, where will my money go?

    You can choose to donate to one of nine Critical Needs areas: - Water and Sanitation - Health - Infrastructure - Mums and Babies - Disaster Relief - Education and Training - Income Generation - Highly Vulnerable Children - Where Most Needed

    Your donation goes towards addressing that area of need for children in our program globally. For example, should you give to Water and Sanitation, your donation could go towards providing water filters, water tanks or toilets in any of the over 25 countries where Compassion works. Funds are pooled so that children's most urgent needs are met first, as determined by local church partners who know each child and family in Compassion's program. You can also choose to support an entire Critical Needs project. Please contact us if you are interested in discussing this option further. 

    You can:

    • Give to Critical Needs
    • Sponsor a child
  • What is Compassion's Highly Vulnerable Children fund?

    Compassion's Highly Vulnerable Children fund offers a lifeline to children in Compassion's programs facing unthinkable hardship and living in high-risk situations.

    This includes: children who have been orphaned (or youth-headed households), children whose primary caregiver is incapacitated, children who have suffered abuse or exploitation, and children with special needs.

    Together with the local church, Compassion identifies children in highly vulnerable situations and provide them with specialised care and assistance to ensure they are stabilised and can continue to participate in Compassion's program.

    Examples of help given to these children can include: immediate housing arrangements, trauma counselling, nutritional support and provision of every day needs, legal assistance and renovations to structures and shelters.

    The Highly Vulnerable Children fund goes beyond the response of sponsorship to ensure children are kept safe and continue to be given opportunities to grow and develop without facing immediate risks to their safety and well-being.

  • What is Critical Needs?

    The effects of poverty are devastating and affect every area of a child's life. Compassion's Child Sponsorship Program sets the foundation for life-changing opportunities for every registered child. But every child will, at some point, require help beyond sponsorship's reach.

    Critical Needs provides the additional support necessary for Compassion assisted children to be released from poverty in Jesus' name. Through Critical Needs, supporters like you who are passionate about particular issues, such as safe water, or caring for mothers and babies, can help children most in need worldwide, or support specific projects in vulnerable communities. There are nine Critical Needs areas that you can choose to support, each area addressing an essential aspect of a child's health and development.  

    The nine Critical Needs are:

    • Water and Sanitation
    • Mums and Babies
    • Health
    • Education and Training
    • Infrastructure
    • Highly Vulnerable Children
    • Income Generation
    • Disaster Relief
    • Where Most Needed

    Because we believe that poverty is best addressed through the transformation of the individual child, Critical Needs provides support alongside Compassion's Child Sponsorship Program, not as stand-alone community development activities.