Our Work

Health Services Support

Improving Local Health Services

Efficient, well-organised and well-supported health services can be lifesaving and life-changing. About 4.8 million children under 5 and nearly 300,000 pregnant women and new mothers die each year from causes that could be prevented by access to well-equipped and well-trained healthcare professionals.

International Medical Corps helps local health authorities provide primary and secondary healthcare services, including strengthening referral services from rural communities and clinics to large regional and national-level hospitals. We work hand-in-hand with national governments and local community leaders to ensure that basic healthcare is available and affordable for all people—whether they are residents of remote villages or large urban centres, and whether they are internally displaced people, asylum seekers, migrants or refugees.

Training and education are central to our support of health services. We train and mentor health-service providers, managers and community representatives, enabling them to better deliver, manage and monitor their local health services.

We also help rehabilitate health facilities and supply them with essential drugs and medical supplies. Where necessary, we recruit trained medical professionals to fill gaps in the health service system. And International Medical Corps works with local health authorities to advocate for the benefits of improving health services.

About 44% of WHO member states have fewer than 1 physician per 1,000 people. In Sub-Saharan Africa the figure is 0.2 physician per 1,000 people.
Globally, there are 3.8 nurses and midwives per 1,000 people. In Sub-Saharan Africa there are only 2 nurses and midwives per 1,000 people.
We have implemented health-services support programmes in more than 80 countries on five continents.

Areas of Focus

Overview

A strong health system delivers quality services to all people—whenever and wherever they need them. The exact structure and function of health systems vary from country to country; but all of these systems require well-maintained facilities, adequate medical supplies and efficient logistics to deliver quality healthcare. They also require a well-trained and adequately compensated workforce, reliable information on which to base decisions and policies, and a robust financing mechanism.

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Key Stats

Globally, nearly 40% of deaths each year are not registered.
About 150 million—or roughly 20%—of children under the age of 5 remain unregistered at birth and thus invisible to government systems.
Myriad barriers prevent people from registering births and deaths.

Overview

Health resilience is the ability of a community to use its assets to strengthen public health and healthcare systems, as well as improve the community’s physical, behavioural and social health to withstand, adapt to and recover from adversity.

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Key Stats

By 2050, extreme weather and environmental stresses may cause an additional 14.5 million deaths. The direct impact of natural disasters and extreme weather is 14 times more likely to cause suffering among women and children than among men.
Resilient health systems are composed of resilient individuals and organisations that are able to solve problems and make informed decisions, both during a crisis and when situations are more stable.

Overview

Reliable data on the health status of individuals and communities—as well as on the performance of service delivery—are essential for planning, operating, monitoring and evaluating health programmes in every country. Accurate data are needed for the surveillance of individual health, health facility performance, population health and community health.

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Key Stats

A robust health-information system is vital for improving the health outcomes of communities it serves.
An open-source software platform known as DHIS 2 is being used in more than 100 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America for health-data analysis, reporting and dissemination.
Strong health-information systems can contribute to greater transparency and accountability by increasing access to data.

A Trusted Ambulance Service Saves Lives in Mali

Our ambulance service in Mali is making sure that people in urgent need of medical assistance can travel safely and quickly to the hospital.

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Resources

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