Health

VSO aims to support disadvantaged people in fulfilling their rights to physical, mental and social wellbeing, and to offer good-quality essential services.

There is a vicious circle of ill health, poverty and social exclusion. Inequalities in wealth and access to essential services impair people's ability to maintain their health and wellbeing. This prevents them from fulfilling their potential and from participating fully in their communities and nations.

Lack of basic services

Millions of people in developing countries lack access to adequate basic services including clean water, sanitation, food security and healthcare, a situation exacerbated by the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Inadequate mental health and welfare services reduce individual wellbeing and exacerbate social exclusion. If disadvantaged people could exercise their rights to these services, much poor health and social exclusion would be prevented.

Health and social services

Our volunteers help to improve the quality and availability of these services by strengthening the capabilities of health and social work professionals. We also work with government and non-government partners to improve management and delivery of services. We support, where possible, community-based services (including primary healthcare) and outreach work in both health promotion and treatment.

Addressing causes

We work hard to tackle the underlying causes of social exclusion and ill health. This includes work on the provision of clean water and sanitation, health promotion in areas such as the recognition and management of malnutrition, and support for the development of appropriate social services.

Securing rights

VSO also promotes the voice of disadvantaged users when health and social services are being planned and delivered. Our aim is to help improve legislative systems to enable disadvantaged children, women and men to secure their rights to these services and challenge practices which discriminate against them. 

IMF and health workers report 

VSO has contributed to new research led by the Stop Aids Campaign and Action for Global Health. The report looks the International Monetary Fund and asks if policies have changed in the light of the world economic crisis. The report can be downloaded below.

Health Worker Migration

At present, Africa has just three percent of global health workers but bears 24% of the global burden of disease. In the last two decades, these shortages have been exacerbated by thousands of health workers leaving to find employment in developed countries, including the UK.

VSO has recently published ‘Brain Gain’ - a report highlighting how improved circular migration, the legal and recurring movement of people, could help international aid efforts to tackle this ‘brain drain’ of health workers leaving Africa.

Brain Gain contains a number of policy recommendations that could reduce the devastating effects that the migration of health-workers is currently having on sub-Saharan Africa. VSO argues that by supporting the professional development of migrant health workers in the UK and increasing opportunities for health workers to return home and help their countries of origin, health worker migration could become a powerful force for strengthening the African health workforce. You can download a copy of the report below.