Faith Communities and Global Health

This book examines the underappreciated role of faith-based organizations (FBOs) in shaping global health, aiming to lay the groundwork for more formal and equitable partnerships between public health systems and faith communities. Its core premise is that FBOs are among the oldest and most embedded actors in health system – particularly across the Global South – and leveraging their reach and credibility is a strategic choice for stregthening compliance and supporting development goals. Modern public health often narrates its own history as a progression from religious charity to secular governance; yet historical evidence is more nuanced. Even today, global health progress depends on the tools made available through technological innovation, as much as on how communities engage with them – engagement that is often shaped by faith. The chapters examine this argument across history, emergency response, regional service provision, mental health, gender, and sustainable development, collectively suggesting that the future of global health will not be determined solely by technical innovation, but by how systems navigate plural sources of meaning. These considerations are especially urgent in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed the fragility of public trust and the indispensable role of FBOs in counterbalancing mistrust and moral uncertainty. Intended for policymakers, global health professionals, development economists, humanitarian actors and religious networks, Faith Communities and Global Health: Partnerships and Practice in the Global South provides a roadmap for building partnerships that are both evidence-based and contextually grounded, advancing the foundations necessary to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.