Contents

The Case for Health

Globally, countless health-related deaths could be prevented if affordable health care services were more readily available for everyone, especially women and girls.

800+ women

Every day, more than 800 women and adolescent girls die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.

23 million Contraceptives icon

About 23 million adolescents have an unmet need for modern contraception and are thus at elevated risk of unintended pregnancy.

2.7 million

Approximately 2.7 million newborns die every year. Three-quarters of these deaths are preventable.

7,000Aids ribbon icon

According to UNAIDS, 7,000 young women ages 15 to 24 become infected with HIV every week.

Malaria Mosquito icon

Nearly every minute, a child under age 5 dies of malaria.

Plan International Canada partners with communities around the world as they assert their right to health. At the heart of our work is a commitment to gender equality and inclusion. Our projects support sexual and reproductive health and rights, including quality maternal, newborn and child health and contraception and family-planning services, access to clean water and safe sanitation, and the prevention and treatment of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. We work alongside governments and global and local organizations and leaders to support resilient health systems for the future.

Meet Natsumi, the wave maker

“Many young people and adolescents are looking for a change in their society. Attitudes are already changing. … We can all be that little push for someone else.”

– Natsumi

Natsumi understands the challenges that young people face in her community in Loreto, the northernmost part of Peru. Across this region, one in five adolescent girls is pregnant, the second-highest rate in the country. As a peer counsellor, Natsumi supports other teens to make informed choices about their health. She’s making waves, one bold conversation at a time.

Watch Wave Maker, our mini-doc starring Natsumi.

Natsumi with her brothers Natsumi with her brothers
Natsumi and her younger brothers get ready for school.

The Top Four Barriers to Good Health

Every day, millions of children, adolescents and women are at risk because they are unable to assert their right to health and access quality care. We’re working to change that by removing the barriers to good health

1

Poverty

Poverty and poor health are intimately connected. Half of the world lacks access to essential health services, and three of the most fatal infectious diseases – HIV, tuberculosis and malaria – disproportionately affect lower-income countries in Africa and Asia. People living in poverty contend with malnutrition, inadequate housing and preventable illnesses that go untreated, leading to missed school or work and loss of income. Meanwhile, the cost of health services can push them deeper into crisis.

“The face of poverty is female, with girls and women disproportionally affected. And the poorer people are, the less likely they are to receive health care.”

– Dr. Tanjina Mirza, chief programs officer at Plan International Canada
2

Gender inequality

Gender inequality plays a powerful role in the health of women, girls and those with diverse gender identities. Deeply rooted social norms, discrimination and unequal power dynamics limit their decision-making power and their freedom to access the resources that protect their health, including information, care services and the money and time to seek these essentials. Without financial autonomy or health services that are designed to meet their unique needs, women and girls are at a disadvantage that jeopardizes their health and well-being.

3

Lack of access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene

One in four people around the world lacks access to safe drinking water, and two out of five lack proper sanitation. Due to deeply rooted social norms, women and girls bear the greatest burden of sourcing water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Communities living with inadequate WASH services face an increased risk of preventable illness — diarrhea accounts for 9% of all deaths among children under age 5. Improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene could save 1.4 million lives per year.

4

Weak health systems

Where primary health facilities are poorly resourced, the quality of health care suffers. In low- and middleincome countries, 15% of all deaths are related to poor-quality health care. For women and gender minorities, the barriers to accessing services are reinforced by gender inequality, while adolescents often face a lack of respect from providers and the need for parental or partner consent when seeking services. On a global scale, persistent underfunding of health systems in rural areas puts these communities at greater risk compared with urban areas. And for the 1.8 billion people living in fragile contexts, critical health services are scarce, resulting in high rates of maternal, childhood and neonatal mortality.

Our Approach

Five ways we are realizing the right to health

Our Approach

1. Advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)

Young people face considerable challenges to their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and a number of obstacles in accessing these services. Gender inequality and entrenched social norms make it difficult to access information, contraception, testing and treatment for HIV and sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy care, safe abortion and other critical services. Plan works with governments and partner organizations to improve the provision of sexual and reproductive health services, making them accessible and user-friendly. We are committed to supporting the rights of women and adolescents to make autonomous decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.

Women drawing
Our Approach

2. Improving maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH)

Woman holding baby

Quality health services before, during and after childbirth can save the lives of countless women and newborns. Plan works with communities to train health workers and equip health facilities to meet the needs of women at every stage of their pregnancy. We also raise awareness of the importance of prenatal care, help families save money so that births are better planned, train health workers so childbirth is safe and ensure that transport is available for timely referral services. In all of our work, we strive to remove the gender barriers that prevent women and adolescents from seeking the essential care they need.

Our Impact

To date, our SRHR and MNCH programs have reached more than 1.3 million adolescents, women and their partners, spanning 11 countries around the world

Our Approach

3. Partnering to prevent and end HIV, tuberculosis and malaria

Since 2004, Plan has worked alongside The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a worldwide movement to defeat HIV, TB and malaria and ensure a healthier, safer, more equitable future for all. We partner with governments, health systems and communities to promote awareness, prevention tools and timely testing and treatment.

Stopping the spreadMosquito icon

According to the World Health Organization, Africa is home to about 95% of the world’s malaria cases. Children under age 5 are most at risk because they have yet to develop any immunity. In partnership with The Global Fund, Plan distributes long-lasting insecticidal mosquito nets in community centres and schools as well as door to door, targeting the most affected regions.

“The mass distribution has been very effective. In past years, in Zimbabwe, we recorded 100 cases of malaria in this district every rainy season. This year, we’ve recorded only two.”

– Eufrasia Mukandapi, environmental health technician at the Ministry of Health and Child Care in Zimbabwe
Our Approach

4. Strengthening health systems

Plan International works with governments and communities to strengthen health systems to make them more resilient, inclusive and gender- and age-responsive. This includes supporting the rehabilitation of health facilities, improving the availability and management of medicines and equipment, training health workers to deliver inclusive and gender-responsive services, and bringing health services and information closer to remote communities and vulnerable populations.

Our Approach

5. Increasing water and sanitation for communities, school and health facilities

Boy turning on a faucet
Our Approach

5. Increasing water and sanitation for communities, school and health facilities

Access to clean water and safe sanitation helps children step into their potential by improving their health and their ability to go to school. We work with communities and health facilities to increase access to clean water and toilets and promote good hygiene practices, including hand washing, proper disposal of waste and menstrual-health education. We also train community members and school and health-facility staff to operate and maintain new water sources and sanitation facilities, ensuring that these provide long-lasting service.

Our Health Projects

Bringing quality health care closer to home

Half of the world’s population lacks access to essential health services, often due to poverty. For women, children and marginalized populations, the barriers to health are even greater. At the heart of our work is a commitment to health for all. We have a large and diverse portfolio of health projects throughout Africa, Asia and the Americas. See below for details from select projects.

Map of countries where Plan has health projects
Our select health projects
All countries with active health projects

Adolescent Girls’ Health and Rights (AGHR)
Tanzania

We decide
Peru

Empowerment, Local Leadership and Accountability (ELLA)
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru

Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights in Nigeria (ASPIRE)
Nigeria

Eradicate Tuberculosis & HIV
Guinea

Healthy Women and Girls (HWG)
Mozambique

Our Impact

Natsumi, 16, with fellow member of her student leaders group

Our recent wins:

343 health facilities have been improved with infrastructure, including clean water and sanitation.

130,000 adolescent girls have received menstrual health management training, information and supplies.

270,000 women and girls have received improved health services, including SRHR, MNCH, HIV or TB services.

220,000 women and girls have received health education and information in their homes or communities on topics such as reproductive health and rights.

17 million people received long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets for malaria prevention.

Our partners in health

We are immensely grateful to our partners, who consistently and generously support our health programs around the world. Their contributions are critical to our work to advance the rights of children to lead healthy lives. None of this would be possible without them.

A boy and his mother use a clean water kit in Uganda Local implementing partners:

Plan International implements all projects and programming in partnership with local, national and community-based organizations. This includes women’s rights organizations, youth-led organizations and research institutions. Plan International also works in collaboration with governments, where relevant, at national and local levels. More details on local implementing partners can be found within the descriptions of each project.

Global partners:
  • The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
  • Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
  • Global Financing Facility (World Bank)
  • World Health Organization (WHO)
  • United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
  • United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
  • Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH)
Foundations/private sector:
  • Fondation Botnar
  • Solvatten
Technical partners:
  • Strong Minds
  • YLabs
  • Université de Montreal – Unité de Santé Internationale
  • U of Manitoba
  • Canadian Partnership for Women and Children's Health (CanWaCH)

Three ways you can support our health work

Gifts of hope

Gifts of Hope

Ensure children and families can stay healthy with programs that prevent and treat disease, support nutrition and protect sexual and reproductive health. Whether it’s clean water in a crisis or mosquito nets to prevent malaria, your contribution will support healthy communities.

Donate now

Women getting measured

Get informed and inspire others

Help raise awareness about the importance of women’s and girls’ sexual and reproductive health and rights by learning about our ground-breaking health project, Strengthening Health Outcomes for Women and Children.

Learn more

Two children in a field

Sponsorship

Help a child realize their right to live, learn, decide and thrive. Together, we can create a world where all children can step into their full potential.

Sponsor now

Access our resources

Explore our health programs with this collection of resources, including cutting-edge research, lessons learned and personal stories of change.

Have a question? We can help

If you’re curious about our programs, interested in exploring how you can join in or have a question about the impact of your support, we’re here to help! Get in touch and learn how you can make an impact in the lives of children.

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