Health

Improve quality of life and focus on preventative measures

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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

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

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

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

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.

For every $1 donated

80% goes to program, 20% to administration

80%

Program development and delivery

20%

Administration and fundraising costs

See exactly where your money goes

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

25 Jun, 2020

Four Ways COVID-19 Will Undo Child Development Progress

Millions of children have escaped poverty in the past few decades, but the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to undo much of that progress. So what are the risks that children face—and how can we respond?.. Read more

FAQs

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:
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.
How does Critical Needs work with Child Sponsorship?
Critical Needs and the Child Sponsorship Program work side-by-side to equip Compassion's local church partners with the resources to provide holistic support and long-term, customised solutions for children, their families and communities. While the Child Sponsorship Program connects one child with one sponsor, Critical Needs giving is not directed to one child, but provides essential support to thousands of Compassion registered children when they need it most. Every child will benefit from Critical Needs during their time in Compassion’s program, as sponsorship funds alone are not sufficient to cover the varied and often urgent needs of the children we support.

You can choose to support children globally through Critical Needs or fund an entire project in a specific community. These projects are both reactive and proactive and could include water filters to provide safe water to a community, reconstruction of homes after natural disasters, or income generating activities for adolescents and children's caregivers. The right assistance is identified and provided by the local church in partnership with Compassion.

You can:
- Give to Critical Needs
- Sponsor a child
Why does the cost to support an entire Mums and Babies survival project vary between countries?
The care that families receive from Mums and Babies is specific to them, and differs between countries based on children’s needs and the availability and accessibility of government or other support services. This means the cost to support an entire Mums and Babies survival project also varies between countries ($15,000 - $25,000 per year), and has been determined by the price of local services, families' specific needs and currency conversions.

For example, in Thailand, free universal healthcare is available to families—but not always accessible, especially in remote areas. Instead of replacing existing services, your support empowers Compassion staff to assess and meet each family’s individual and most urgent needs. For children in Thailand, this includes providing educational and health support to increase rates of breastfeeding, helping to prevent undernutrition and stunting for newborns.

You can support Mums and Babies for $12 per month or another amount of your choosing. You can also give through a one-off financial contribution. These contributions are pooled to support mothers and babies all around the world.

If you are interested in supporting an entire Mums and Babies survival project, please contact us.

You can:
- Give to Mums and Babies
- Contact us for more information
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.
What is Mums and Babies?
Compassion Mums and Babies gives young children critical support during the vulnerable prenatal months and first year of life. It cares for mums and their little ones in their own homes, the centre of their lives.

Combining Compassion’s expertise and the local church’s loving support, Mums and Babies aims to prevent premature death, secure good health and enable positive development for babies and their mothers in over 25 developing countries.

Your support provides:

Home-based care for mothers and babies, with perinatal specialists visiting families monthly to offer healthcare, education and emotional support.

Advocacy for mums to ensure they are treated fairly by local services and can access the essential support they need to thrive, including medical care and birth attendants.

Community support networks that bring mothers together to combat isolation, learn new ways of earning an income and provide each other with long-term support.

Compassion centres, where mothers can always turn for support, learning opportunities and expert advice on how to monitor their child’s healthy development.

When a child turns one year old, the focus shifts from survival to early childhood development, and the child is eligible to join Compassion's Child Sponsorship Program while continuing to receive personalised home-based care until age three.

You can:
- Give to Mums and Babies
- Learn more about Compassion's Child Sponsorship Program