We link people actively involved in health care in the name of the churches with other concerned groups, and with people and agencies willing to provide resources. We organizeconsultations and other activities, and help member churches carry out their healing ministries by providing community-based health care training, or by equipping them to meet the challenge of HIV/AIDS, for example.

The WCC has developed several study, counselling and teaching resources including FACING AIDS - Guidelines: Education in the Context of Vulnerability HIV/AIDS and Churches and the HIV/AIDS pandemic: Analysis of the situation in 10 West/Central African countries. (Click here for more information on the WCC work to strengthen community efforts to combat HIV/AIDS.)

The WCC promotes adult education for personal empowerment and social transformation. Via CONTACT, a quarterly international magazine produced in India, it also promotes education on community involvement in health. CONTACT reports topical, innovative and courageous approaches to the promotion of health and integrated development. It is available in English, French and Spanish.

The WCC advocates equitable sharing and rational investment in drugs and medical equipment; works to strengthen networks of health-care coordinating agencies; and monitors the development of sustainable church health institutions and programmes. It is a Christian voice for justice in health policy-making and service distribution in international fora and in relation to major international agencies like WHO, UNICEF and the NGO Forum for Health.

Some of the WCC's planning and management work on health, healing and wholeness has been relocated out of Geneva - to Africa and India, for example. An example is the Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network (EPN). Originally the pharmaceutical programme of the WCC, it is now an Independent Ecumenical network. The network's objective is to increase positive health outcomes through church-related pharmaceutical services, and to increase the capacity of church-related pharmaceutical activities to provide effective and efficient services.