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A new charity project By 2030, it hopes to raise $100 million to support 200,000 community health workers in 10 countries, mainly in Africa.
The Scholl Foundation and the Johnson & Johnson Foundation announced Monday that they have donated a total of $25 million to the initiative. The Global Fund, which oversees the project, hopes to raise an additional $50 million, matching the grant to fight AIDS, TB and malaria.
The investment seeks to empower frontline workers who are vital in the fight against the Covid-19, Ebola and HIV epidemics.
“What have we got in terms of community health workers?” said Francesca Mutapi, a professor at the University of Edinburgh who is leading a multi-year project to treat neglected tropical diseases in several African countries. “They are very popular. They are very effective. They are very cost effective.
Mutapi described how, on a recent research trip to Zimbabwe, a community health worker negotiated a parasitic infection in a small child who belonged to a religious group that refused clinical drugs.
“She was going to the river, going about her daily routine, and noticed one of the children in her neighborhood complaining of a stomach ache,” Mutapi said.
The woman approached the grandmother for permission to bring the child to the clinic, where she investigated the case and began treating the child for bilharzia. Mutapi said that would not have happened without the woman’s intervention.
Ashley Fox, an associate professor specializing in global health policy at SUNY Albany, said community health workers providing low-cost care “when they’re properly equipped and trained and paid — that’s a big warning.”
Although the current number of these workers is not well documented, in 2017 the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention The continent needs 2 million. To meet health goals. Most of these workers are women and unpaid, although the Global Fund advocates for some sort of wage for them.
“It’s hard to think of a better group of people to pay for, both in terms of creating good jobs and maximizing the health impact,” said Peter Sands, the fund’s chief executive. .
In the year The Global Fund, established in 2002, distributes global funding with the goal of eradicating communicable diseases. In addition to the standard three-year grant to countries, these new philanthropic grants will be deployed through the Catalytic Fund to encourage spending on some of the best practices and program designs.
As part of Africa’s leading health initiative, Last Mile Health has worked with the Liberian government since 2016 to expand and strengthen its community-based health program.
In the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, former Liberian president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf mobilized Last Mile Health and other organizations to respond.
Nan Chen, Managing Director of Last Mile Health, said: “Two years ago, we were celebrating Dejakvu to commemorate the devastating Ebola outbreak in Liberia.” “And as President Sirleaf reminded us, the tide turned when we turned to the community.”
They are working with organizations specializing in public health finance, research and policy to design initiatives to expand community health programs and capitalize on the pandemic’s focus on the importance of disease surveillance.
The Catalytic Fund is the result. “I think the pandemic shines a light on the critical role of these health workers,” said Lauren Moore, vice president of global community impact at Johnson & Johnson.
Don Gipps, CEO of the School Foundation, emphasized that these workers can raise early warnings that benefit people everywhere.
“This is how we not only deliver health care in Africa, but how we deal with diseases that threaten the next generation of the world’s population,” said Gipps, a former US ambassador to South Africa.
Last Mile Health won a major grant from the School Foundation in 2017 and also received major grants from TED and Co-Impact from the Audacious Project. Another funding common. The organization’s co-founder, Raj Panjabi, now serves in the Biden administration.
“What philanthropists at Last Mile Health have noticed is that we’re not only taking direct action on the problem by proactively leading community health worker programs, but we’re seeing our innovation being adopted at the national policy level,” said James Nardla, head of the organization. Chief Program Officer.
SUNY’s Fox and other experts say connecting the work of community health workers to the national health system and securing sustainable funding for their programs is a priority.
The Global Fund says it will help countries design community health worker expansions next year.
Chen admits that there is no silver bullet for sustainability.
“One of the things that organizations like Last Mile Health have to do is sit in that comfort zone and fight with it, with our partners, with our donors,” Chen said.
Mutapi argued that governments should ultimately fund the programs and that their experience with community health workers in places like Zimbabwe and Liberia could benefit people in other settings.
“Living on really inaccessible Scottish islands, the creativity of community health workers is something that can really be exported to remote western communities because the relationship between the health provider and the local community is so important.” For respect and access.”
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The Associated Press’ coverage of philanthropy and philanthropy is supported by funding from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., in partnership with The Conversation US. AP is solely responsible for this content. For all AP Charity coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
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