HHA marks World Health Day 2025

A personal reflection from Merren, HHA’s Development Director, to mark World Health Day 2025

This World Health Day’s theme is "Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures" – a commitment to providing a strong, healthy start in life for every mother and baby. For me, this theme could not be more relevant: I have just got back from a trip to Haiti, where I spent time visiting our maternal and infant healthcare projects. While it was a trip filled with joy, it was also a sobering reminder of the immense need, and of the critical importance of helping mothers and babies to thrive in regions where pregnancy and childbirth are still hugely dangerous.

At Fort Saint Michel, a small but vital health clinic in one of Cap-Haïtien’s poorest neighbourhoods, I met the health workers delivering our community healthcare programme for mothers and babies. This initiative provides antenatal consultations, postnatal home visits, 'Mothers' Clubs' for education, and training for Traditional Birth Attendants to support safer home births. It is a lifeline for women who would otherwise have no access to healthcare during pregnancy.

However, the programme is at risk. Recently, the clinic lost a major international funding source, leaving Community Health Workers unpaid for over a month. Despite this, many continue to work voluntarily, driven by their commitment to protecting mothers and newborns. As we walked through the community, women - having heard about the funding cuts - stopped us in the street to desperately share how much this programme means to them and their families. It was a sobering reminder of the critical need to keep this work going. We are now working with our local partners to ensure that support continues, because without it, too many women and babies will be left without care.

At Justinien University Hospital (JUH), the largest government hospital in the north, it was a joy to see firsthand how our support is saving lives. We have seconded an expert pediatrician, donated five mOm incubators, and are providing medical-grade oxygen and financial support for vulnerable families.

It was here that I met Baby Justinien, who was born prematurely on the street. His mother, who has learning disabilities, was unable to care for him, so a kind stranger brought him to JUH. He was extremely premature and in a critical condition, but, thanks to the incubators and oxygen your support has helped provide, the doctors and nurses were able to stabilize him. They named him Justinien - after the hospital - and in an extraordinary display of compassion, they are now taking turns caring for him as if he were their own.

This World Health Day, as we celebrate "Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures," we are reminded that hope begins with access to healthcare. Without it, too many mothers and babies face unimaginable risks. With it, futures can be transformed.

We want to thank every single person that is joining us on this mission, with a special mention to J&K Wonderland Foundation, whose ongoing support of this work is making incredible things possible, and to Konbit Sante, whose partnership locally is truly invaluable. Thank you for helping us to ensure healthy beginnings – so that more mothers and babies have the future they deserve.