5 Ways to Take Action for Health and Justice

When current events coverage and social media feeds feel like a barrage of bad news, it can feel exhausting to be informed. It can be easy to slip into despair after being exposed to widespread agony on a daily basis. When these catastrophes seem unstoppable, it’s difficult to know how we can each make a difference.  

At Partners In Health (PIH), we refuse to accept suffering as inevitable, particularly for communities that have been subject to past—and present—injustices. If you feel particularly bogged down by the weight of the world these days, several PIHers have tips for actionable items you can do right now:  

1. Educate yourself

Awareness can expand by going beyond the most recent headlines. Often, problems of today are the result of systematic inequities that have existed long before our time. Understanding these systems—and those who fought them before us—can help inform how we respond to the current moment.

“Health injustice is not an accident but a consequence of power,” said Joel Curtain, PIH senior director of advocacy. “Our work is informed by social movements that have challenged power to advance health rights, like the HIV activist movement, which itself was deeply informed by the anti-Apartheid struggle. We know the fight for health justice is a deeply intersectional one and is inseparable from climate justice, racial justice, gender justice, economic justice, labor justice, and so on.”

PIH Co-founder Dr. Paul Farmer wrote several books about poverty and disease, such as Pathologies of Power, which we would recommend as a starting point. To see other books that show the intersection of health and social justice, see a list of recommended reading from PIH staff.  

2. Get in touch with Congress

One assertive way to get involved is to contact your members of Congress. Senators and representatives are supposed to be a voice for their constituents, so sharing your thoughts and concerns with them helps inform how they respond to legislation—including government spending.  

This year, PIH has leveraged online tools to make calling and emailing members of Congress as straightforward as possible. In the last year, the PIH community reached out over 73,000 times to congressional offices using these tools alone. And it’s made a difference.

“Hundreds of PIH Engage volunteers and tens of thousands of PIH supporters have called Congress this past year about the importance of global health funding,” said Vincent Lin, PIH associate director of health policy and advocacy. “In the recently passed 2026 budget, global health funding is maintained and even restored from the rescissions.”

The power of constituent voices was evident in the amount of funding dedicated to global health in the 2026 budget. We encourage our supporters in the U.S. to reach out to their members of Congress to release critical global health funding for the Global Fund and PEPFAR. PIH supporters helped secure congressional support for this funding, and now you can help ensure it gets out the door.

3. Protect your personal health

Similarly to using an oxygen mask on an airplane, you can’t take care of others without taking care of yourself first. It’s important to recognize when you’re feeling overwhelmed or out of sorts so you can prioritize your wellness. Our minds were not meant to process this amount of stress regularly.  

“It’s essential to prioritize your mental well-being. You can’t fill from an empty cup, so try to be intentional about taking time to care for yourself in the midst of everything going on in the world,” said Rachel Isaacs, PIH cross-site mental health officer. “Slow down, take a break from the news cycle, and make sure you get outside every day. Spend time doing things you love with people who energize you, and remember to celebrate moments of joy, no matter how small.”

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, more than 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness each year. Today, as videos and stories of tragedies can be nearly impossible to avoid, it’s even more critical that we are aware of how our minds and bodies are handling it.

*Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health issues, there are numerous national and local resources available for support. For anyone in emotional distress or crisis, call or text 988 to speak with a trained counselor from the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

4. Organize and build community

Organizing, in the simplest terms, means finding the people who care about the same issues as you and turning your individual outrage into collective action. Working together to arrange strikes, protests, talks, mutual aid, or other forms of community organizing can help make the work much more feasible and change much more possible.  

“When the world feels overwhelming, ‘doing hard things with friends’ is how change happens, as we can gain strength from others,” said Rosie Poling, PIH health policy officer. “I find hope in not only those who are doing good today, but also in the generations of advocates who faced horrible injustices before us and came together to work for a better future anyway. I'm especially inspired by those in the PIH community who imagined and worked towards a better world before PEPFAR even existed. Thank God they didn’t give up."

Community organizing can take many forms, and there are numerous movements to participate in. It could look like becoming an active member in your local tenants' rights organization, labor union, or anti-imperialist movement chapter, and organizing with people with shared values. Or, if you’re particularly passionate about global health, you can sign up for updates on our advocacy efforts and join our network of grassroots advocates.

5. Join PIH Engage

With 735 active team members across the country, PIH Engage is the largest grassroots network of global health advocates. Engage helps organize and equip teams of volunteer high schoolers, college students, and professionals toward building a global movement for the right to health.  

"Being a part of a community rooted in justice and action is a powerful antidote to despair. Many students and young professionals find solace in our PIH Engage community for this reason,” said Sam Kelts, PIH manager of grassroots strategy. “If you're looking to impact the U.S.'s role in the right to health globally, consider getting in touch with our PIH Engage team to learn more."