Every child deserves the chance for a healthy life. Every mother deserves to give birth in a safe environment. Everybody, everywhere, deserves to be protected against easily preventable diseases.

Yet in parts of the developing world, the provision of health services is less than adequate. Clinics and hospitals can be few and far between, and, in some cases, conflict and insecurity can cause existing services to be disrupted.

And so too many children continue to die before they reach their fifth birthday. Too many mothers die in childbirth. Preventable diseases like polio, measles, TB and HIV/AIDS continue to spread. Too many countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, are struggling to reach the health-related Millennium Development Goals.

But pockets of progress fill us with hope. Mobile technology is improving the provision of health care in areas far from the nearest clinic. Vaccines are not only saving lives, but leading to a better quality of life. And polio, thanks in part to the efforts of Global Citizens like you, is on the brink of being entirely eradicated.

This is why health is one of four major focuses of this year’s Global Citizen Festival – alongside women’s equality, global partnerships and education. We know that Global Citizens can make an impact on the health of the world’s poorest – our experience with polio eradication shows us that.

At last year’s Global Citizen Festival, the message that we can end polio rang out loud and clear. In fact, it was the fourth-most mentioned topic in the Twitter conversation around the Festival that night – beating out mentions of any of the bands, despite the fact that it was the Foo Fighters’ last gig. Global Citizens everywhere were inspired to take up the cause, signing petitions, writing letters, phoning their political leaders and even meeting them in person to let them know they wanted greater funding for polio eradication. As a result, the supporters of our campaign for The End of Polio, alongside Rotarians and others, have helped leverage a whopping $900 million to end this disease.

We’re building on last year’s success and aiming to achieve similar levels of support for community health workers and vaccines. Join us as we support the amazing work of the Earth Institute, GAVI Alliance and UNICEF– incredible organizations working to increase the reach of basic health services to those who need it most:

Sign the petition calling for 1 Million Community Health Workers

Ensure these Community Health Workers can access lifesaving mobile technology

Urge the UN to make immunization a top priority

Call  on President Obama to help end preventable child deaths

In the process, you might find yourself the lucky recipient of two passes to see Stevie Wonder, Kings of Leon, Alicia Keys and John Mayer live on stage in New York’s Central Park this September 28!