Nothing on earth affects the health of so many people as extreme poverty.

Half the world can’t afford to see a doctor, get vaccines, buy medicines, eat nutritious food, drink clean water, put a bandage on a cut, wash a wound with soap, or take antibiotics.

More people die every year from extreme poverty than from all diseases in the world combined. It’s the greatest health crisis of our time.

But what if health could overcome poverty? What if by helping people be healthier, things could change? Not just because scientists in a lab developed medicines, but because all of us developed awareness and took action?

As a proud partner of Global Citizen, Johnson and Johnson is working on solutions to some of the most pressing health issues in the world: Ebola, tuberculosis, and medicine that can protect 800 million kids from intestinal worms. 

We’ve trained over 500,000 health care workers in some of the most remote places on earth. Started clinics. Donated vaccines. And backed community programs to teach health practices as simple (and effective!) as how to wash one’s hands. There are more initiatives in the pipeline, including work on an exploratory vaccine that could prevent HIV. 

We know that the healthier people are, the more likely it is they can lift themselves out of poverty. And with even more advances, we believe health can ultimately defeat poverty.