April 2026- As World Health Day is marked on 7 April, The Big Heart Foundation (TBHF) presents a working model of humanitarian action that places access to healthcare at the centre of relief efforts. The urgency is clear. According to the World Health Organization and the World Bank, more than 4.5 billion people are underserved by essential health services, while nearly two billion face severe financial hardship due to out-of-pocket healthcare costs.
Given these challenges, practical and scalable interventions are urgently needed. With projections indicating a global shortfall of 10 million health workers by 2030, TBHF has adopted an approach that combines rapid response with long-term health system support. Its programmes focus on broadening service reach, strengthening infrastructure, building local capacity, and forming partnerships aligned with national health priorities in beneficiary countries. The emphasis is on sustainable impact for the most vulnerable communities.
In fragile settings where crises strain limited healthcare systems, TBHF implements interventions that connect emergency relief with long-term sustainability.
Lebanon’s capital saw the reconstruction and expansion of the emergency unit at Saint George Hospital University Medical Center, delivered through the ‘Salam Beirut’ campaign for AED 8.7 million. The restored facility now provides essential care to more than 40,000 patients annually, including dedicated paediatric services.
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Across Jordan, the Big Heart Clinic in the Zaatari refugee camp delivers primary healthcare, nutrition services, mental health support, health education, and child growth monitoring to around 24,000 Syrian refugees. In Gaza, TBHF has contributed to COVID-19 response efforts, including installing an oxygen generator and a solar energy system at a healthcare facility. The foundation continues to support Palestinian child amputees through the ‘For Gaza’ campaign, amid sustained demand for prosthetics and specialised rehabilitation services.
Meanwhile, in Bangladesh, the foundation has closely monitored the conditions of Rohingya refugees on the ground to mobilise greater healthcare provision for the most vulnerable groups. It helped deliver a 100-bed hospital in the Cox’s Bazar district, in partnership with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), to serve approximately 140,000 refugees, a significant proportion of whom are children under the age of five.
The facility provides access to quality healthcare services, including 24-hour emergency care, intensive care units, pediatric and maternity wards, as well as laboratories and isolation units. It also contributes to monitoring communicable diseases, strengthening response capacities to epidemics and natural disasters, and supporting nutrition programmes and primary healthcare services, ultimately increasing the availability of sustainable, comprehensive healthcare within refugee camps.
Also read: WHO calls for action: “Together for health. Stand with science.” to mark World Health Day
