Abundant Health

Global Ministries’ vision of abundant health for all focuses on efforts to promote physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. The Global Health unit aims to create abundant health in economically vulnerable communities by protecting children and disadvantaged adults from preventable causes of death and disease. Global Health enables the church to partner with thousands of communities and health workers through its community-based health programs, while also supporting United Methodist hospitals and clinics. With more than 300 United Methodist health facilities around the world and various funding opportunities for health programming—including those that target HIV and AIDS, maternal and child health, malaria, and more—The United Methodist Church has clearly demonstrated a long history of supporting healthy communities, both locally and globally. To effectively respond to the health challenges of individuals, communities and countries where we work, a systematic approach to our global health efforts is required. Our programmatic areas of Health System Strengthening, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Malaria, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene allow for an integrated and holistic approach.

Our programmatic emphasis is to protect children from preventable causes of death and disease. As a sign of this commitment, the UMC pledged to reach 1 million children with lifesaving interventions by 2020. Global Ministries joined forces with the coordinated international effort called “Every Woman Every Child,” a global initiative to reach 15 million children by the year 2020. The UMC not only met, but exceeded its goal, by reaching 1,075,732 children by October 2020.

The Global Health unit met three major objectives as part of its work to reach this goal. First— it scaled up existing programs on community health education, how and when to seek care, and used the health services that were available. Second— it increased coverage of health interventions for the people who were most at risk for disease and early death. Interventions included activities like the promotion of breastfeeding and use of mosquito nets; the importance of immunization and oral re-hydration therapy; seeking treatment for malaria; and the use of antibiotics for treating pneumonia. Third— it improved the quality and scale of health care services offered through UMC hospitals and clinics. This work ensured the availability of diagnostic and sterilization equipment, drugs and essential supplies, safe water supply and waste disposal to prevent infection, surgical supplies, as well as improving treatment facilities.