General Conference roundup: Global health

This is the third of several posts presenting a roundup of General Conference actions related to the foci of this blog. While the second post in this series looked at mission generally, this third post looks at the General Conference actions related specifically to global health in The United Methodist Church, a major focus for the work of the denomination.

General Conference reaffirmed its commitment to the Four Areas of Health, which include improving health globally.

GC also officially added global health to the work of Global Ministries.

The conference saw a great celebration of the completion of Imagine No Malaria, the denomination's global health-related campaign of the last eight years. The celebration included a song written especially for the occasion. These photos capture some of the celebratory dance that went with the performance of the song.

At the same time, it launched a new global health initiative: Abundant Health: Our Promise to Children, which is further described in this Global Ministries press release.

Recommended reading: From Imagine No Malaria to Abundant Health for All

Among other business, General Conference 2016 will herald a success and a transition in The United Methodist Church's mission work related to global health, one of the denomination's Four Areas of Focus. GC2016 will celebrate the success of the Imagine No Malaria campaign and introduce the pivot of global health work to the new Abundant Health for All campaign. Three news stories below share more details:

This UMNS story recounts the history and success of the Imagine No Malaria campaign.

This UMNS story introduces the new Abundant Health for All campaign.

This New World Outlook story provides a more in-depth description of Abundant Health for All.