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Caring for those in need through health care, vision and mobility projects around the world

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seeks to follow the 2 great commandments: to love God and to love one’s neighbor

When Jesus Christ was on the earth, He ministered to those who were sick and who had physical disabilities, infirmities or ailments as He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38).

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues this mission today through its efforts to improve health care, vision and mobility around the world.

These efforts include providing wheelchairs and mobility devices, facilitating sight-saving surgeries, donating medical equipment, refurbishing health care facilities, training doctors and nurses, and supporting immunizations.

Throughout 2023, the latest numbers available, the Church took part in 601 health care projects, 73 maternal and newborn care projects, 64 mobility projects and 29 vision projects, and donated 25,786 wheelchairs.

Improving medical facilities and donating health care supplies

The Church has constructed, expanded and refurbished medical facilities around the world, and donated medical equipment and supplies to help hospitals and clinics.

Sometimes, this can mean quite a journey — such as when the Church donated medical supplies, hygiene kits and other services to the remote Tigabu Island in Malaysia in June.

Local fishing boats provide transportation to the remote Tigabu Island for a mobile medical mission with donations from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serving almost 300 villagers in Kudat region of East Malaysia on June 21, 2024.
Local fishing boats provide transportation to the remote Tigabu Island for a mobile medical mission with donations from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serving almost 300 villagers in the Kudat region of East Malaysia on June 21, 2024. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Getting there required transporting equipment and supplies onto a bus, traveling three hours to a coastal jetty, loading seven small fishing boats, navigating by sea to the island and unloading the equipment at the island elementary school.

“We feel blessed to be able to help provide basic medical care and supplies in collaboration with Mercy Malaysia,” said Elder Brad Douglas, a senior humanitarian missionary. “We hope this donation of critical health care support from our faithful Church members will make a difference and have an impact on the quality of life for these humble villagers.”

Last year, thousands of people in the Kyiv region of Ukraine received access to a new outpatient health clinic from Project HOPE, with funding and support from the Church. The Church also provided funding and medical supplies to help renovate a hospital in the Bryansk region in Russia, and helped build a new training center for nurses and midwives in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

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Biomedical tools given to a hospital in the Republic of Palau helped improve its care. And in Zimbabwe, the Church funded the completion of a new rural health clinic, including the donation of beds, medical equipment, refurbished housing, solar power and a new well.

The Church donated mammography machines in seven Central American countries this year to help detect breast cancer.

“The benefit will be very great because, in the end, they are women who will identify their problem early, and the attention and treatment will be much earlier, and we will be able to provide care to more women,” said Ana Gabriela Morales of Hospital Alemán Nicaragüense in Managua, Nicaragua.

Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson visits Ana Gabriela Morales of Hospital Alemán Nicaragüense in Managua, Nicaragua, on Friday, June 7, 2024.
Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson visits Ana Gabriela Morales of Hospital Alemán Nicaragüense in Managua, Nicaragua, on Friday, June 7, 2024. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Humanitarian missionaries started a heart clinic in American Samoa. In Cambodia, the Church helped renovate buildings, provide equipment and train medical staff at the Kampong Thom Provincial Hospital. Neonatal resuscitation training is now helping nurses and doctors save lives in Montenegro, Sierra Leone and other countries.

In Abuja, Nigeria, the Church donated medical equipment to the Federal Medical Center, including dialysis machines and chairs, baby incubators and cots, hospital beds and patient monitors.

A mobile health clinic donated on Sept. 11 by the Church in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, means more than 20,000 children will have access to specialized health care.

Mayor Roberto Contreras commented: “There is gratitude in our hearts for The Church [of Jesus Christ] of Latter-day Saints, and there is also gratitude for our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who do not believe in miracles, look at this; this is a miracle from the Lord for all the children of San Pedro Sula.”

The Church’s health care contributions are also saving and improving the quality of the lives of women, children and migrants through countless donations throughout South America.

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Immunizations

The Church participates in global vaccination efforts to provide lifesaving protection against diseases such as polio, measles, malaria and tetanus.

Babra receives a MNT vaccination in Pakistan.
Babra is in her second trimester and is being vaccinated against maternal and neonatal tetanus by a female health care worker in the Haripur district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, in early 2024. | Zunash Abbasi in Pakistan, UNICEF

For example, Church funding supported UNICEF’s efforts to train female vaccinators in Afghanistan and Pakistan, who are then able to connect and communicate with mothers and female caregivers in households where a man may not be able to enter.

“It’s made a massive difference in the global fight to end polio,” said Melissa Corkum, the senior manager for polio outbreak response with UNICEF.

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Support from the Church also helped UNICEF USA and Zambia’s ministry of health to enhance vaccination initiatives in the African country, making it easier for individuals to access measles and polio immunizations, which has reduced the number of outbreaks in the area.

Nurse Janet Wanyama prepares to vaccinate a child against malaria at the Malava County Hospital, Kakamega, Kenya, in 2022.
Nurse Janet Wanyama prepares to vaccinate a child against malaria at the Malava County Hospital, Kakamega, Kenya, in 2022. | Gavi

A historic malaria immunization campaign is underway in Africa with a contribution from the Church to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance — helping give an estimated 39,500 children the new RTS,S malaria vaccine.

“This long-awaited effort to immunize children against malaria will truly save lives,” Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson said at the time. “It is a beautiful way in which we can help to provide relief as the Savior would.”

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The Church has supported UNICEF’s maternal and neonatal tetanus-elimination programs since 2014, particularly in Africa and the Middle East. Maternal and neonatal tetanus is easily preventable by a series of simple vaccines, clean delivery and proper cord care. But it is estimated that still one baby dies of tetanus every 21 minutes around the world.

Nazma Shaheen, a health care professional, believes that the ongoing work in this field will significantly reduce the incidence of maternal and neonatal tetanus.

“It is gratifying to offer safe, effective and often hard-to-access vaccines to women and children,” Shaheen said.

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Vision care and mobility

Vision care is a continuing humanitarian priority for the Church. This is done in part throughout the world to treat cataracts and improve access to vision care services.

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The Caring 2023 annual summary outlined how in Mozambique, for example, the Church offered eye examinations and medical treatment to many individuals from remote, rural communities. The Church donated 500 intraocular lenses to be used in cataract surgeries in Malaysia, thousands of pairs of eyeglasses in Peru, and an auto refractor keratometer to improve vision screenings in Chiapas, Mexico.

Students from the National Institute of Santa Ana try out their new eyeglasses in El Salvador on June 20, 2023.
Students from the National Institute of Santa Ana try out their new eyeglasses in El Salvador on June 20, 2023. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Caring summary told of a man named James, an academic adviser at a university in the Solomon Islands, who lost his sight due to diabetes-induced cataracts. He was blind for nine months before he had surgery — made possible thanks to a Church contribution of surgical equipment to the Fred Hollows Foundation, which provides services throughout the Pacific Area.

“I praise the Lord for being able to see again,” James said. “I have a bright future ahead of me.”

Elder Peter F. Meurs, General Authority Seventy and president of the Pacific Area, said about this effort: “The needs are great, and the work is lifted as we unite our efforts. The Lord Jesus Christ restored sight to many, and in so doing, He also helped people to see who they truly were, as precious children of God. As followers of Jesus Christ, this is the pattern we strive to emulate.”

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Thousands of people who were unable to walk or who had poorly fitting wheelchairs or mobility aids have had their lives changed through donations from the Church. Now they enjoy greater independence and dignity.

Such as in the country of Jordan, where this year children received better wheelchairs that helped them more properly sit — and therefore interact with their families and with the world around them.

Mai Alramahi, director of the rehabilitation program at Al Hussein Society, said, “When we worked together to help the children, we could see the happiness and joy of each child as they were properly fitted in their specialized chair.”

Image of a Jordanian child smiling while receiving her specialized wheelchair.
The Church of Jesus Christ donates specialized pediatric wheelchairs to children in Amman, Jordan, in 2024. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Not only does the Church donate the devices, it also provides training for technicians and health care workers in assembly, proper use and maintenance.

When Babalo Pholose received a new wheelchair in Lenteguer, South Africa, he said he could now “go everywhere I want to go.” Without it, he would be confined to home and his bed because of spinal tuberculosis.

When the Church donated around 600 high-tech wheelchairs, canes, walkers, crutches and other technical aids for vulnerable populations in Antioquia, Colombia, Elder Sergio Villa, an Area Seventy in the South America Northwest Area, spoke of being a part of the joy in the lives of the receivers.

“This is what fills our hearts and immense gratitude, especially for all the people who are being benefited by this program,” he said, adding, “We as Christians and believers of the Lord Jesus Christ want to follow Him and feel the joy of knowing that we are doing the will of God and serving others.”

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The Savior’s relief

In his April 2022 general conference address ”Now Is the Time,” Church President Russell M. Nelson said, “Now is the time we can bless others and ‘lift up the hands which hang down’ (Hebrews 12:12).”

All of these efforts to improve physical health of people around the world — and all other humanitarian efforts — stem from a desire to follow the two great commandments: to love God and to love one’s neighbor.

“Who is our neighbor? Everyone is our neighbor,” Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, said in 2022. “We reach out to everyone, whatever their circumstances may be, wherever they may be from, whatever race or religion. We’re here to bless everyone that we can bless.”

When caring for those in need, people are bringing others to Jesus Christ, taught President Johnson in April 2023 general conference.

“And because we love God and have covenanted to serve Him, we can partner with the Savior to help provide temporal and spiritual relief for those in need — and in the process find our own relief in Jesus Christ,” she said.

How to get involved

The Church’s Caring for Those in Need 2023 Summary also highlights ways in which Church members and their friends and neighbors can be involved with these worldwide efforts to improve health care, vision and mobility.

These are found in portions throughout the summary titled “What can I do?” and include:

  • Donate unused crutches and other mobility aids to your local hospital.
  • Learn about the importance of vaccines; share what you know with your friends and neighbors.
  • Volunteer to facilitate local vision screenings and other health events.
  • Volunteer at a nonprofit in your community.
  • Meet with local civic leaders to learn more about their priorities for public health care.
  • Visit the sick at your local hospital.
  • Teach others about hand-washing and other best practices to avoid sickness.
  • Give a neighbor a ride to the doctor’s office.
  • Learn how to make nutrient-rich meals, and share what you’ve learned with friends and family.
  • Donate baby blankets to your local hospital.
  • Teach children in your community about hygiene and sanitation.
  • Find out more about the needs of vulnerable populations in your area.
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