SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, MAY 9, 2025: A surgeon who has dedicated nearly 40 years to providing free, life-changing surgeries to African patients has been honored internationally for his remarkable service.

This year’s World Health Day theme, Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures, highlights the urgent need to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths. Around 300,000 women die due to pregnancy and childbirth complications each year, while millions of babies are stillborn and two million die within their first month of life. The crisis is most severe in low-income countries, where access to safe surgery is often out of reach due to financial and systemic barriers.

FREETOWN, SIEERA LEONE, FEBRUARY 20, 2025: An 11-year-old boy from Sierra Leone can finally go to school and use his right arm again after his severely deformed limb was operated on by international health charity, Mercy Ships.