Good health is about more than just medicine and treatment; it includes all areas of life – that’s why we train communities on diet and health practices, and provide school meals to prevent child malnutrition.
Once people have become ill however, what they need is healthcare – and this is often severely lacking in poor countries. That’s why Islamic Relief builds hospitals and clinics, supplies existing centres with life-saving medicines and clinical equipment, and provides ambulances in conflict zones to reach the most urgent cases of injury and illness.
When crisis hits a country, Islamic Relief provides humanitarian aid that often includes emergency health care and distribution of clean water to prevent illness. Our teams often stay to implement long-term development projects, such as rebuilding destroyed water and sanitation facilities, or constructing new facilities for populations lacking them. Projects like these reduce illness rates and save lives.
Critically, we look at more than just physical health: when people have suffered losses and witnessed scenes of violence and bloodshed due to conflict, we provide psychosocial care in the form of therapy and counselling to help traumatised patients live a happier life.