Universal Health Coverage Day
Today is Universal Health Coverage Day! Every 12th of December, the United Nations celebrates a coalition of more than 700 organisations, spread through 116 countries, in order to encourage world leaders to deliver on their promises of universal health coverage.
Universal health coverage is part of the 17 UN sustainable development goals, which aim to eliminate poverty and build a more resilient planet. The goal of universal health coverage is hugely important to the UN and to us at drop4drop. Universal health coverage is important as it ensures that everyone can have access to decent health services they need without the risk of financial impoverishment.
Every year, there are 1.5 million children that die as a result of diseases spread through drinking dirty water. On top of this, half of the worlds hospital beds are filled with people suffering from water-related diseases (UN). At drop4drop, we want to do our bit to help achieve the UN’s SDGs, and work to provide a safe and sustainable water source in small villages across India and countries in Africa. Doing so helps to improve health and wellbeing (SDG 4), it allows more children go to school (SDG 5), increases gender equality (SDG 6) and finally, helps more people have access to clean drinking water and safe sanitation (SDG 7). DROP4DROP use every penny donated and put it straight into a project. To do so, we employ local labourers and heavily involve the community in the decision-making process, in order to create a sense of ownership and pride. To make sure it’s sustainable for every community, we provide maintenance training and hygiene education to ensure that the wells are taken care of and last as long as possible.
Access to safe and clean water has the ability to transform lives, create opportunities and lay the foundations to a brighter future. Work with drop4drop and consider donating as little as the cost of a coffee (£3), and help provide clean water to someone who’s never had it before.
Stay up to date with our projects and follow us on social media @drop4drop!