The right to health is a fundamental human right to guarantee all people live in dignity. CARE is committed to amplifying equal and just access to health in the communities we work with.
We believe that everyone has both a right to health and reproductive self-determination. CARE International’s multi-dimensional health programs address barriers at the individual, social and structural level, and includes scaling up our existing expertise on epidemics and diseases to meet the ongoing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our goal is that by 2030, 50 million people can exercise their right to health. This includes 30 million women being able to exercise their right to sexual and reproductive health.
CARE International focuses on building resilient, equitable, and accountable health systems that can respond to shocks and crises and that provide sustainable access to quality health services for all.
Globally, the right to health is undermined by persistent economic and social inequities, as well as ongoing threats to health security posed by increases in the number, scale, scope, and duration of humanitarian disasters. Restrictive gender norms and gender inequalities are replicated and reinforced in health systems, contributing poorer outcomes for women and girls in their health and lived experiences.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many health systems were struggling to adequately meet the health needs, particularly the sexual and reproductive health needs, of the populations they were meant to serve. The pandemic’s impact has further strained these systems and put hard-won gains in health equity and gender justice at risk.
CARE International’s added value continues to be its equity and rights-based approach to health and health systems. We seek to:
Build assets and agency of women, girls, and other groups facing injustice
Change the power relations to enable collective voice and well-being
Transform health systems and structures to enable universal access to health
CARE International and partners have helped 43 million people in 38 countries exercise their rights to health, particularly for sexual and reproductive health. Looking ahead as part of our 2030 strategy, we aim to amplify our reach to 50 million people.
CARE International works with community groups and leaders and local health authorities to catalyze community-led collective action, mobilize public demand, and build institutional commitments and to change institutional practices and policies.
Our global health work focuses in four areas:
Strengthening local health systems and community-based organizations
Supporting marginalized population groups, especially adolescents, to exercise their right to health
Increasing access to quality health services, including sexual and reproductive health and rights services, in humanitarian and fragile settings
Preparing and responding to public health emergency preparedness
Read our Vision 2030 Impact Area Strategy for The Right to Health here.
CARE International’s Fast and Fair Vaccine initiative currently supports 22 countries in equitably delivering COVID-19 vaccines.
Since the initiative started, CARE International has worked to promote vaccine safety, organize vaccine delivery, train health workers and volunteers, help ensure access for people who need it most, and mobilize people to get the vaccine by helping those with no internet access register for vaccines and keep appointments.
That has resulted in 126 million people getting vaccinated in the places where CARE International is supporting vaccines. 263 million people have had access to accurate information on vaccines through mass media and tailored vaccine messages.
Millions of Somalis are on the brink of starvation as hunger across Somalia intensifies. “The worsening hunger crisis in Somalia will have devastating consequences for women and girls," says Ummy Dubow, CARE Somalia Country Director.
The humanitarian situation in Lebanon amid ongoing airstrikes is rapidly deteriorating, with overcrowded shelters, people sleeping on the streets, and essential supplies running low. Immediate international funding and diplomatic pressure are needed to address the crisis and establish a ceasefire.
As the security situation in The East of Ukraine deteriorates, older people – especially those with disabilities – are increasingly at risk. CARE calls for attention to the vulnerable situation of older people in Ukraine, and for increased support.
One year after the devastating Herat earthquakes, Afghan women continue to face significant challenges, including trauma and economic instability, despite some progress in rebuilding.
Lack of sanitary pads, essential hygiene items and safe drinking water have turned simple activities into a daily ordeal for women and girls in Gaza.
CARE, UNICEF, and the government of Bangladesh have worked to find ways to improve the health infrastructure of the country, acheiving an increase in the vaccination rate from 2% in 1986 to over 80% in 1989, and it has stayed that way ever since.
The report outlines CARE's contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) between 2015 and 2024.
Midwives play an essential role as Frontline Health Workers in providing access to sexual and reproductive health and rights and how they act as agents of change. However, their situation in the crisis and post-conflict contexts of Iraq and Côte d'Ivoire shows how they often compensate for the shortcomings of resource-poor and sometimes dysfunctional health systems through high level of personal commitment.
In a new report in collaboration with the Institute for Policy, Advocacy and Governance, CARE Austria has looked at how things are at the halftime of the SDGs, including an in-depth study on the impact of COVID19 on SDG 3 (Health and Well-being) in Europe and South Asia.
In FY2024, CARE worked around the world, contributing to saving lives, fighting poverty, and increasing social justice.
