Healthcare workers arrive at a check-up camp in Malad, India on June 25, 2020. / Manoej Paateel/Shutterstock

Vatican City, Apr 5, 2022 / 10:00 am (CNA).

In April, Pope Francis is praying for healthcare workers, especially those who help the sick and elderly in poor countries.

“Let us also remember that healthcare is not just an organization; it depends on men and women who dedicate their life to taking care of other people’s health,” the pope said in a video appeal issued on April 5.

In his video for April 2022, Pope Francis pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic has “shown us the self-giving and generosity of healthcare workers, volunteers, support staff, priests, and religious men and women.”

Healthcare workers who “have given their lives during this pandemic to help so many sick people recover,” he added.

Pope Francis’ prayer video is promoted by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which raises awareness of monthly papal prayer intentions.

The video for April 2022 includes images of healthcare workers providing different kinds of medical care to people all around the world, in hospitals, ambulances, at the border, in tent camps, and in remote villages.

The coronavirus pandemic “has also exposed the fact that not everyone has access to a good public healthcare system,” the pope said. “The poorest countries, the most vulnerable countries, cannot access the necessary treatments to treat the countless diseases they continue to suffer.”

Francis said the lack of access to adequate medical care is often due to poor management of resources and a lack of serious commitment on the part of governments.

“I want to ask the governments of all the countries of the world not to forget that good healthcare, accessible to all, is a priority,” he stated.

Pope Francis’ prayer intention for April reads: “Let us pray for health care workers who serve the sick and the elderly, especially in the poorest countries; may they be adequately supported by governments and local communities.”