Health and HIV

Every day, over 25,000 young children die. Most of these deaths are preventable. We save children’s lives through our healthcare programmes and our campaign work.

Why do so many children die?

In some countries — Sierra Leone, Niger, Angola — one child in four dies before their fifth birthday. In a country like Vietnam, a child from the poorest 20% of the population is four times more likely to die than one from the richest 20%.

The most common causes of death in young children are pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria and measles. Children who are malnourished are at far greater risk of dying from these causes because they're too weak to fight disease.

A ‘whole system’ approach

Providing basic healthcare for all children saves millions of lives. But there's no quick fix. What's needed are systems that can provide basic healthcare for the long term. That's why we work in developing countries to:

  • advise health managers
  • train health workers
  • provide equipment and transport
  • build health facilities.

Read about what steps poor families from geting healthcare and how to change this, in our briefing Helping Children Survive.

In some countries, health services have collapsed because of war. Save the Children provides emergency health services and helps rebuild health infrastructures in war-torn countries like Angola and Liberia.

In northern Nigeria, basic healthcare is virtually non-existent. Save the Children has started a £20 million immunisation programme that aims to save the lives of 30,000 young children and to strengthen the primary healthcare system.

Saving children’s lives

We need the UK government to put saving children's lives at the heart of all its development activities - from helping countries strengthen their healthcare systems, to ensuring free healthcare for the poorest communities. Take action now for the world's poorest children.

Young people in the fight against AIDS

Every day 1,400 children die from an AIDS-related illness and another 1,800 are newly infected with HIV.

Adolescents and young adults face the greatest risk from HIV and AIDS. Effective Peer Education is a practical manual, published by Save the Children, which gives advice on protecting young people from HIV and AIDS and promoting sexual health.

Our work enables HIV-positive children and those orphaned by AIDS to be cared for in their communities, rather than in institutions. We provide advice and social support and work to increase their access to basic health and education services.

Read more about our work in the feature article Talking about HIV and AIDS.