ERD is working in partnership with the Diocese of Rio de Janiero to disseminate information on primary health, hygiene and nutrition education.  ERD will also train 200-300 young people to be trained as health care promoters in the community.  They will be trained in the prevention of common illnesses, including sexually transmitted diseases, basic hygiene, use of medicinal plants and sound nutrition.  In subsequent years, ERD aims to expand the program into Rocinha, the largest favela in the Americas, which is also in Rio de Janiero.

Burundi
Preventing the spread of deadly disease in communities:
ERD's malaria program uses long-lasting, World Health Organization-approved insecticide treated bed nets as the first line of defense against this deadly disease. Education about preventative measures and community outreach are used to combat malaria at the grassroots level. Measurable outcomes will include a decline in child mortality and a reduction in incidences of new malaria infections.

Democratic Republic of Congo
Protecting the health of vulnerable mothers and children:
ERD’s Malaria program is fighting to control the spread of the disease in regions within the Diocese of Katanga, which serves almost nine million people. In the region, children and pregnant women are especially at-risk of dying from Malaria. ERD helped to establish a health clinic in an area of Katanga where there are no health care facilities. Through the clinic, ERD is educating communities, distributing insecticide-treated nets, and supplying effective drug therapy. The program trains community health workers on prevention techniques. ERD distributes insecticide-treated nets and teaches people how to use them properly. Anti-malaria drugs, which support the education, are given to community health posts, hospitals, and clinics.

Dominican Republic
Protecting the health of vulnerable children and mothers:
ERD is supporting a community health program that works to increase survival rates for children under five in the community of San Pedro de Macoris. Physicians, nurses, and health educators teach mothers about basic nutrition and disease prevention and provide medicines to sick children. Health educators also work with micro-credit specialists to help families climb out of the poverty that prevents them from receiving basic health care.

El Salvador
Providing health care to communities:
ERD's primary health program gives critical care to people through health education, treatment, and disease control and prevention in community-based clinics. New medical clinics are being constructed, and several are already receiving patients and dispensing free medication. Pastoral counseling will be available for patients.

ERD is also starting a three-year reproductive health education program in rural Western El Salvador in response to high rates of teen pregnancy and STDs. The program will provide training in reproductive health in schools in about 29 poor rural villages and will also train parents on how to talk to their children about reproductive health. Youth committees will do ongoing programming on AIDS and teen pregnancy and train other youths to become leaders. ERD is also training local health promoters to teach prevention and treatment of common illnesses such as diarrhea, respiratory ailments, and fungal infections, as well deadly diseases such as cholera and dengue fever that occur frequently in El Salvador.

ERD is partnering with Association El Mangle to provide health services to families with annual incomes of US$800 or less in 9 rural communities in El Salvador. Many homes in the target area lack basic sanitary facilities. Improper and unsanitary human waste disposal is blamed for a host of infections and diseases including hepatitis, giardia, dysentary, and e-coli which pose a threat to the old, young, and infirm. They will teach beneficiaries to build, maintain, and use composting latrines as well as smokeless cook stoves.

Honduras
Providing primary health services to communities:
ERD is investing in smokeless stoves, latrines and clean water accompanied by education and hygiene training components in communities throughout Honduras.  ERD is also sponsoring training in the Amarateca Valley to address health, hygiene and garbage disposal.  This will reduce respiratory, water-borne, mosquito-borne and parasitic illnesses.

Israel
Primary health care for children and families:
ERD is working in partnership with the Community Outreach Clinics Program (COC) in Jerusalem, at both Ahli Arab and St. Luke's Hospitals. The geographic areas served will be the entire Gaza Strip and the Nablus District of the West Bank. The aim is to improve the health status of the inhabitants of this area through the expansion of the community outreach services for the ill/injured and impoverished victims of the conflict. Patients will receive free health care services, as well as screening for psycho-social and nutritional vulnerabilities. Treatment and emergency food packets will be provided as necessary.Ahli Arab Hospital is located in the Gaza Strip area of Palestine. Throughout its emergency program the hospital has continued to provide medical treatment to victims of the current crisis. The hospital is involved in organizing community outreach clinics targeting the most needy areas to bring primary health are services to villages and individuals who cannot access health services from any other source. St. Luke's Hospital in Nablus is an extension of the ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. It aims to enhance the welfare of the Palestinian, providing medical care for all patients who are poor and in need, regardless of race, religion or financial status.

Namibia
Preventing the spread of deadly diseases in communities:
St. Mary's, in Odibo, northern Namibia, is the base of ERD's Namibian malaria program. Malaria is endemic to this area, and the community in Odibo frequently suffers acute epedimics of the disease. ERD's malaria campaign uses long-lasting, World Health Organization-approved insecticide treated bed nets as the first line of defense against this deadly disease. Education about preventative measures and community outreach are used to combat malaria at the grassroots level. Measureable outcomes will include a decline in child mortality and a reduction in incidences of new malaria infections.

Nicaragua
Providing primary health care for vulnerable families:
Through ERD’s primary health program, people living in rural Nicaragua will have access to clean water, improved sanitation, and health education.  Through a partnership with El Porvenir, health workers teach safe health and hygiene practices in 20 villages to benefit almost five hundred people. The program will build latrines in three villages and benefit almost five hundred people. A water flow system will bring clean water to at least one community where water sources (lakes and streams) are used for bathing, drinking, and washing clothes.

Philippines
Improving primary health care for vulnerable people:
To advance health care in communities where contaminated water spreads deadly diseases, ERD is installing water wells in two of the five villages.  Providing water nearby will reduce the amount of time residents spend traveling.  Clean water will also decrease the incidences of deadly water-borne diseases that are common in tropical climates.  Over 1,800 people will benefit from these water wells.

South Africa
Primary health care for children and families:
A medical clinic in the Brown’s Farm Township in Cape Town serves fifty thousand households and gives them 24-hour access to community health care workers.

Tanzania
Providing primary health care for village communities:
ERD’s primary health program help four villages in the remote areas in the Diocese of Kondoa, Choka, Kolo, Mnenia, and Pahi—develop sources of clean water for household and farming use.  Currently, people in Choka depend on wells located in remote riverbeds forcing them to walk several miles for their water.  In the other villages, there is an inadequate water supply. ERD’s support of local efforts will help ensure a steady and sufficient supply of clean water.

Zambia
Preventing the spread of deadly disease in communities:
ERD is fighting to control the spread of Malaria in the communities of Luapula and Kapoto, outside Kitwe, through a partnership with the Anglican Church in Zambia. In both rural and urban communities, ERD is working in the communities of Luapula and Kapoto to distribute insecticide-treated nets, supply effective drug therapy, spray chemicals for mosquito-control, and educate communities on how to reduce the risk for contracting the disease. The program trains community health workers on prevention techniques to reach more children and families and conducts chemical spraying where appropriate.