A health worker and young girl in a health clinic.

Health

Improving children's health is a critical part of our work. More than 15,000 children under five are still dying every day—many from illnesses that would be so easy to prevent: pneumonia, malaria—even diarrhea. We’re working to nourish children and mothers, educate communities, and help protect the most vulnerable from everyday illness.

invested

$42.8 million

focused on Health

70 programs

people reached

1,812,571
Impact
More than $16 in health benefits

generated for every dollar invested in our Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition programs

2019-2024
Change

In the Every Girl Can program in Mozambique, the proportion of girls and young women who have sought reproductive healthcare in the last 12 months increased from

3.2% to 55.3%Mozambique | 2022-2024
Progress

963,800patient consultations were provided by community health workers through projects supported by World Vision.

Progress

300,072children received deworming treatment to support their health and development.

Progress

2,565,000ready-to-use therapeutic food packets were distributed, providing a source of emergency nutrition for malnourished children.

Connected Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainable Development Goal 02 logo: Zero hungerSustainable Development Goal 03 logo: Good health and well-beingSustainable Development Goal 05 logo: Gender Equality

Explore our investments and results

Explore our investments and results options

Real impact measured

  • 2024 analysis of our Positive Deviance/Hearth model in 70 projects across 18 countries revealed that 281 children’s lives had been saved over five years.

  • 2023 analysis of our Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition programs in 39 projects across 20 countries revealed that for every $1 invested, $16.8 is generated in health benefits—including 6,274 lives saved over three years.

Videos

A close-up photo of an infant being fed drinking water from a yellow measuring cup.

Global Challenges

Nutrition is foundational for children’s development
In the last 30 years, the number of child and maternal deaths worldwide has decreased by 59 per cent. Despite this progress, 4.9 million girls and boys died
before their fifth birthday in 2022....
...
Disproportionate health challenges for women and adolescent girls
For children who survive into adolescence, 0.9 million (0.4 million females and 0.5 million males) aged 10 to 19 lost their lives in 2022 alone, with sub-Saharan
Africa and southern Asia bearing the bulk of this burden....
...
Health and nutrition in fragile contexts
Nearly a quarter of the world’s population, or approximately 1.9 billion people, live in fragile contexts and countries experiencing conflict, making access to
healthcare and proper nutrition more challenging for the already at-risk population. An estimated 110 million people were displaced by mid-202...
...
Two young girls smile at each other as they stand in a grass field with a bicycle.

Approach and Strategy

Our Goal

Children, adolescent girls and women of reproductive age live full and healthy lives

Engage families with essential knowledge and skills
Empower communities to take ownership of their collective health and address existing gender barriers
Partner with health systems to strengthen and support services
Influence governments for policies that protect the most vulnerable, particularly women and girls
World Vision’s health and nutrition work is particularly focused on children, infants, adolescent girls and women of reproductive age. We build on scientific,
evidence-based program approaches to leverage: our strong community presence to foster positive, gender-responsive changes in health, nutri...
...
A white jeep driving through a muddy path, featuring a rainbow and trees in the background.

Investments and Results

In 2024, $42.8 million was invested in 70 programs focused on health and nutrition. These programs reached 451,013 girls, 420,131 boys, 548,102 women, and 393,325 men. Thailand, a country considered as high developing, emerged in 2024 as the top recipient country in the Health sector, where the Stop TB and AIDS program supported fighting infectious diseases and strengthened health systems.

The goal for 2025 is to reach at least 1.7 million people through health-focused projects.*   In the area of Reproductive Maternal, Newborn, Child, and
Adolescent Health (RMNCAH), notable program expansions were seen in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia, while new materna...
...
A wide-shot image of two people wearing backpacks, looking up at a massive green mountain area.

Progress

Change

Efforts put in by families and communities over the past several years have contributed to measurable positive change. Here are some recent health examples.

Stories

A young woman wearing a striped white shirt and standing in a manicured garden smiles with folded arms.

At 18 years old, Laila is already a leader in her community in Tanzania. She’s a lead volunteer for the Accelerated Hope and Development for Urban Adolescents project in partnership with Global Affairs Canada. The project provides a safe space for adolescent girls and boys to become empowered with knowledge about adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Read more(link opens in new tab/window)
A young girl smiles as she is flanked by four other women and girls. One of the women rests a friendly hand on the girl's shoulder.

What does gender equality have to do with health? Plenty. Because women and girls are less valued, it can mean an empty stomach as they eat least and last. That means more malnutrition and its related, negative health effects, including severe anemia and babies at greater risk of death before age 5. The children that do survive are more likely to suffer from poor growth and brain development, which only perpetuates a cycle of poverty and malnutrition.

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A woman with a baby strapped to her back waits in a health clinic along with several other people.

Access to basic healthcare is critical to solving poverty. According to the World Health Organization, about 100 million people are pushed into extreme poverty each year due to out-of-pocket spending on health. Here’s a scenario illustrating how a family can move from illness to poverty simply because of a lack of affordable healthcare.

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Unless otherwise stated, data presented on this page reflects the most up-to-date results of World Vision Canada programs reported between October 2023 and September 2024, and any previous fiscal years available. Previously reported data may not match the current presentation as we continuously receive and refine data from our programs. If you have any questions, kindly reach out to us.