Elevating Country Voices
Hear from the frontlines of community health. Find stories and interviews of community health workers and community health program managers that will deepen understanding of their crucial function delivering lifesaving care to communities.
We Know Where the Money Went. Now Comes the Harder Question: Where Should It Go Next?
When conversations about financing are had, they often focus on one question: do we have enough money? But perhaps the more important question is this: are we spending available resources in the right places? The Zambia National Health Accounts (2022–2024) provide an important picture of how resources are flowing through the country’s health system and what this means for the future of healthcare delivery. The reports show a strong investment in PHC, reduced household out-of-pocket spending, and continued RMNCAH-N financing. However, these gains are threatened by declining ODA funding cuts, exchange-rate depreciation, debt pressures, weak budget execution, and continued dependence on external financing for HIV, TB, malaria and other priority programmes. The report shows that Zambia’s…
Health Financing Strategy for the Community Health Worker Programme, with a focus on immunisation
Day one of the regional broad-based consultative meeting for inputs into the draft Health Financing Strategy for the Community Health Worker Programme, with a focus on immunisation, commenced today in Bo District. This work is being commissioned by GAVI through Mannion Daniels implemented by the Financing Alliance for health. The meeting brought together national, district, and community-level stakeholders to review and provide inputs into the draft strategy, with particular attention to the role of Community Health Workers in immunisation promotion, zero-dose identification, defaulter tracing, community mobilisation, referral, reporting, and linkage between communities and health facilities. The consultation forms part of the broader process…
Budgets Tell the Real Story: Why GC8 Matching Funds Must Deliver for Women, Systems, and Sustainable Impact
As countries shape their GC8 proposals, there is no shortage of ambition. Priorities are clear. Data is available. Commitments to equity and inclusion are strong. But there is one place where all of this is truly tested: the budget. Because at the end of the day, budgets tell the real story. They reveal what is prioritized, who is reached, and whether health systems will deliver impact—or fall short. The Global Fund’s Eighth Replenishment closed at US$12.64 billion. From that, around US$10.78 billion has been approved as country allocations for the 2026–2028 period. And those allocations are already stretched across three epidemics: US$10.783 billion split as US$5.278 billion for…
From Our Partners
Why counties must invest in community health services
Africa Frontline First is an initiative to fund community health programs in sub-Saharan Africa. While this initiative aims to deploy 200,000 professional CHWs by 2030, existing community health volunteers lack essential resources and financial incentives. In this piece, two CHVs from Kenya discuss why county governments must invest in community health services.
–> read more at Nation Africa
How health workers are leading Africa’s COVID-19 response
Community health workers have long responded to disease outbreaks while maintaining lifesaving services. In this September 2021 opinion piece, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia’s president from 2006 to 2018, and Dr. John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, share their thoughts on investments that should be prioritized to end the COVID-19 pandemic and realize health for all.
–> read more at Devex
COVID-19 highlights the need for community health
Over recent years, the world has faced two Ebola outbreaks, the constant threat of pandemic influenza, and now the global spread of novel coronavirus and the COVID-19 pandemic. In developing countries, these threats risk exacerbating existing high burdens of communicable diseases associated with millions of preventable deaths. Community health is essential for pandemic preparedness (prevention, surveillance, response) and remains essential for achieving the World Health Organization’s Sustainable Development Goals. The global scale and impact of the current pandemic demonstrates that this cuts across geographies, levels of income, and types of health systems.
–> read more at Think Global Health