WCC NEWS: As World Health Day approaches, WCC invites global prayer

As World Heath Day—observed 7 April annually—approaches, the World Council of Churches is inviting people across the world to join in prayers and reflections.  Jully Muja (left) and Kukani Tutu assist a mother following childbirth in the St. Daniel Comboni Catholic Hospital in Wau, South Sudan. Muja and Tutu are student nurses from the Catholic Health Training Institute in Wau. Health care is minimal in the newly independent country, and many religious groups are providing personnel and training to fill the gap. The Institute is coordinated by Solidarity with South Sudan, an international consortium of more than 200 religious congregations that trains teachers, health workers and pastoral personnel in several locations throughout South Sudan, Photo: Paul Jeffrey/Life on Earth Pictures 4 April 2024 A prayer and other materials for reflection are now available for use by churches and individuals, helping them focus on global health awareness and the sacredness of human existence. Despite at least 140 countries recognising health as a constitutional human right, more than half of the world's population lacks full coverage of essential health services. On World Health Day, when the World Health Organization will also commemorate its 76th anniversary, the theme this year is “My Health, My Right,” which reminds us to advocate for equitable access to health services and work towards a healthier, more inclusive world.  Among the resources provided are questions for reflection, including: “Do our actions as followers of Christ promote the fulness of life and promote the access and rights to health among most vulnerable and give them an enabling environment to live a life of dignity?” On 8 April, the WCC will host on online prayer, also with the Ecumenical Prayer Cycle praying for the people and churches of Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria. The prayers will accompany caregivers and scientists, those healing and those unable to heal, those struggling for access to healthcare and those delivering aid. “God heals the broken-hearted, and binds up their wounds,” an opening prayer reads. Dr Cleopatra Nomonde Mqhayi-Mbambo, vice moderator of the WCC Commission of the Churches on Health and Healing, will offer a reflection during the prayer. Communities of faith have the potential to become an oasis of healing, safety, and nurture in a world of glaring inequity and injustice, reflected Dr Manoj Kurian, director of the Commission of the Churches on Health and Healing. “With more than half of the world's population remaining underserved and lacking full coverage of essential health services, we are called to recognise the sacredness of creation and to care for the wellbeing of each person as an expression of God's philanthropic love.” He added that the theme for this World Health Day—“My Health, My Right”—reminds us to advocate for equitable access to health services and work towards a healthier, more inclusive world. “We must identify and name the barriers preventing people from experiencing God's love to lead abundant and healthy lives,” he said. “World Health Day is an opportunity for us to pray, act, advocate, and work to remove these barriers so all people can live dignified lives."   Download material for the World Health Day Prayer, Sunday 7 April 2024 Video interview with the moderator of the WCC Commission of the Churches on Health and Healing  Churches' challenges in health and healing work highlighted by global panel (WCC news release, 6 March 2024) Three WCC commissions meet to confront emerging global challenges (WCC news release, 5 March 2024) See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland