Thematic area 01
Health System Strengthening
The need
More than half the world still cannot count on basic health care. In December 2025, the World Health Organization and the World Bank reported that an estimated 4.6 billion people lacked access to essential health services in 2023, and that 2.1 billion people faced financial hardship paying for care — including 1.6 billion pushed into poverty or deeper into it by health costs.
In food-crisis settings the health gap turns deadly. In 2025, 35.5 million children were acutely malnourished across food-crisis countries, including nearly 10 million with severe acute malnutrition — a life-threatening condition that requires urgent treatment through working health services.
2.1 billion
people faced financial hardship paying for care, including 1.6 billion pushed into or deeper into poverty.
WHO & World Bank, Dec 2025
10 million
children with severe acute malnutrition across food-crisis countries in 2025 — requiring urgent treatment.
Food-crisis reporting, 2025
What we do
We do not build parallel systems. We strengthen what already exists so that services survive after our funding ends. Through local partners we:
Support primary health care facilities with essential medicines, supplies, and equipment so existing clinics can keep their doors open.
Integrate treatment of child malnutrition into routine health services — screening, outpatient therapeutic care, and referral of severe cases.
Train and mentor local health workers and community health volunteers, prioritizing retention within national systems.
Strengthen water, sanitation, and hygiene in health facilities, because a clinic without safe water cannot deliver safe care.
Support health information and early warning so outbreaks and nutrition deterioration are detected before they become emergencies.
How we measure it
We track the coverage and continuity of supported services, cure and default rates for malnutrition treatment against Sphere standards, and whether facilities remain functional after support ends. We publish what worked and what did not.