Rita Mu, Author at ChildFund Australia

World Health Day is held annually on 7 April and marks the founding of the World Health Organisation in 1948. This day has been used to increase public knowledge and awareness of important health issues.

From diabetes, vaccinations, and breast-feeding, to depression, road safety and physical activity, World Health Day generates global attention on the most significant health and well-being topics of our time.

The World Health Day 2023 theme is Health for All and celebrates the World Health Organization’s 75th anniversary.

A focus on health equality

The Constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO) states that the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being, regardless of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition. However, the reality is that an individual’s birthplace can determine how easily they can get quality health care.

World Health Day 2023 is an opportunity to reflect on public health interventions and innovations that have improved quality of life over the past seven decades. It is also an opportunity to highlight the need to continue to tackle current health challenges, particularly for children and their families living in poverty.

Challenges to accessing quality health care

For children and families in developing communities, there are three major challenges to accessing essential health care:

Location: In remote and rural areas, health clinics can be located far away from communities. For many families the only option is to walk to these health clinics because they cannot afford their own vehicles and because of a lack of public transport.

Resources: Even where clinics are established, government budgets may constrain the services they are available to provide. With a shortage of qualified staff, and an even greater shortage of medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, these clinics may only be able to offer the most basic of care.

Resources such as nutritious food and clean water are essential to good health. In developing communities, access to nutritious food and clean water can be challenging because of poverty, ongoing disasters such as droughts that impact farming and agricultural activities, a lack of nutrition knowledge, and long distances to get to water resources.

Cost: Children and adults with more complex conditions will generally require the services available at hospitals located in urban centres. While public health systems may offer care that is free of charge, funds are still needed to cover travel, accommodation, and food costs. As they are foregoing earnings during this time, the total sum needed to access quality health care can be out of reach for low-income families.

ChildFund is supporting communities around the world, including in Timor-Leste (pictured), to build and repair clean water systems to help keep children healthy and free from disease.

Supporting rural communities to access health care

ChildFund’s health programs are focused on increasing access to maternal and child health care.

In Timor-Leste, ChildFund is training Community Health Volunteers to address high levels of child malnutrition and maternal mortality.

Community health volunteers like Augusta regularly monitor the growth and health of children in her village, referring them to a health professional when required, and providing advice to parents and caregivers on hygiene and nutrition.

Augusta also supports pregnant and new mothers, recommending that they give birth in health facilities rather than at home, and the importance of breastfeeding.

In Papua New Guinea, where more than 80% of the population live in remote areas, ChildFund is supporting health professionals to deliver community health outreach services in villages. These outreach services include child vaccinations, antenatal care, tuberculosis/HIV/malaria screening, family planning, and growth monitoring for children.

In Zambia, ChildFund is focused on reducing preventable deaths from malaria. The world’s most deadly vector borne disease is particularly dangerous among children, with 57% of malaria mortalities occurring among children under the age of five.

ChildFund Zambia is responding by educating children and their families about how to recognise the symptoms of malaria, testing children and their families for malaria and providing referrals to treatment, and providing families with insecticide-treated mosquito nets.

5 gift ideas to celebrate World Health Day and promote good health for all

You can help provide better health and wellbeing for all this World Health Day by buying ChildFund Australia’s Gifts For Good. Gifts that can be donated to support children and families around the world to stay safe and healthy include:

1. Mosquito nets: Sleeping without a mosquito net in areas where malaria is prevalent can be deadly. Even mild cases can cause serious problems for families living in poverty. You can help a child sleep safely at night by providing them with an insecticide-treated mosquito net that helps prevent the contraction of malaria and other diseases such as Zika, dengue and yellow fever.

2. Birthing kits for mothers: Birthing kits with medical supplies help pregnant mothers living in remote communities give birth safely at home while hospitals and health clinics are closed or overwhelmed.

3. Vegetable seeds and fruit trees: Keep nutritious and delicious gardens growing. Your gift of fruit trees and vegetable seeds will help provide a lasting source of nutrition and income for families.

4. Hand pump well: This will provide clean water for children and their families for drinking, cleaning and bathing. Children may no longer have to make long, dangerous journeys on foot to collect water from unreliable, contaminated sources. This will also offer children the protection from the risk of deadly waterborne diseases.

5. Hand washing station: This is a simple gift with the power to help everyone in a community improve sanitation and hygiene, and stay healthy.

You can help increase access to quality health care for all this World Health Day. Donate one of ChildFund Australia’s Gifts for Good, or create your own health-focused fundraising event in support.

When ChildFund called make-up artist Alarna Bell for an interview, she had just finished applying the finishing touches to Miss Universe Australia.

Visitors stumbling across Alarna’s social media pages will discover photos of beautiful and glamorous models from around the globe, but the make-up artist’s life is anything but superficial.

A long-time ChildFund Australia supporter and ‘country girl at heart’, Alarna has dedicated much of her professional and personal life to giving back to people in need. In her words, “just doing a lot of little things to help” when she can.

Over the past seven years Alarna, who grew up and lives in Victoria’s Gippsland region, has been sponsoring Ekiru, from Kenya, through ChildFund.

When ChildFund left Ekiru’s community in late 2021 to early 2022, Alarna did not hesitate to continue her support and sponsored another child. “It’s important that we help when we can,” Alarna says.

ChildFund had been working in Ekiru’s village, in northern Kenya, since 1978. Back then, many of the children in the community were malnourished and unable to read, families had few opportunities to earn income, and hygiene and sanitation conditions in the community were poor.

Ongoing donations from Australians such as Alarna over the past few decades have helped to improve the quality of life for children in Ekiru’s village. Families’ incomes have increased, and children’s access to education and clean water has improved. Preschools, dormitories, and school toilets have been built, and scholarships to help families with school fees have been introduced. Young people in the community have also been supported to undertake vocational training to improve their job prospects. Several boreholes and shallow wells have also been built in the community, providing families with clean water.

“It takes a lot of people doing little things to get us to where we really need to be,” Alarna says.

“Every dollar I give doesn’t just go to one child, it’s going to the community.”

Alarna (pictured in the middle) says sharing the photos and letters from her sponsored children has helped teach her daughters compassion. “They’ve grown up to be good kids, and they’ll come home and tell me stories of how they’ve helped someone.”

After ChildFund left Ekiro’s community, Alarna began sponsoring 10-year-old Mtayo, who is from a community in south Kenya that is still very much in need of support. Mtayo lives with his parents, four brothers and sister. His mother sells milk for income. In a year the family earns less than $US400, which is not enough to cover the costs of their basic needs.

A lesson in compassion

Reading the stories of children like Ekiru and Mtayo helps keep her family “in check”, says Alarna.

“I’ve put Mtayo’s picture up, so there’s that little constant reminder that there are children in the world that need our help. It’s not necessarily just about Mtayo, it’s about children in general. It keeps my girls in check when they start worrying about things like spray tans going wrong.

“We need to keep ourselves in check.”

Sharing the photos and letters from Ekiru, and now Mtayo, over the years has helped to teach Alarna’s daughters (pictured with Alarna in photo above) compassion. The girls are now 17 and 19 years old, and both of them hope to become paramedics.

ChildFund supporter and make-up artist Alarna Bell at work as a Miss Universe Australia judge. “For me, make-up has never been about the superficial part,” Alarna says. “It’s about making people feel really good for a moment in their lives, and that’s why I love working for Miss Universe – the make-up is not just for the girls, but who we work for.”

“Being with ChildFund and having that photo up of Ekiru or Mtayo at home has sparked conversations with my daughters,” Alarna says.

“Sponsoring a child was a way for me to ease some suffering in a small way. For the girls, the letters took them on a journey on how other people live.

“They’ve grown up to be good kids, and they’ll come home and tell me stories of how they’ve helped someone.”

Giving back at home

As the director of make-up and national judge for Miss Universe Australia, Alarna also supports children in need in Australia through the pageant’s charity partner, Camp Quality.

“For me, make-up has never been about the superficial part,” Alarna says. “It’s about making people feel really good for a moment in their lives, and that’s why I love working for Miss Universe – the make-up is not just for the girls, but who we work for.”

Alongside her Miss Universe Australia work, Alarna has worked with people with disabilities and also does the make-up for sick children and their families staying at Ronald McDonald House.

“I can’t make them well, but I can bring a bit of joy to them,” she says. “Making someone feel good for a moment can be a confidence boost for them, and when we’re confident we’re better at doing a lot of things.

“If you can ease suffering and create joy – if you can do those two things in life, the reward is always your own.

“You feel so much better when you give.”

Alarna’s dedication to giving back has not gone unnoticed. In 2007, she was anonymously nominated Australian of the Year for her contribution to the community.

“Doing something that is simple for me can have a significant impact on someone else.

“If there’s a message I could give – it’s do the little things. You won’t even notice it. It won’t be a big deal, but it can have a big impact for children like Mtayo.”

Gifts for Good

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