Ahead of our upcoming Annual Report we explore progress in 2024. And look ahead to what we hope to achieve in the new year.
At the Coalition our vision is quality care for all, including those who provide it. But how do we get there? By making professional community health workers (proCHWs) the norm worldwide. We do this with three interconnected tactics to drive systems change. We Research to equip international norm setters with evidence to create proCHW guidelines. We Advocate to influence global financing institutions to increase proCHW funding. And we Activate in-country CHW networks to win national proCHW policy.
Research.
We continued to add to the proCHW evidence base with 4 publications. We published evidence on community health information systems in BMJ Global Health; on the policy transformation needed to reach health for all in The Lancet; and on the role and recognition of CHWs, both in research in Lancet Global Health and in advocacy in Frontiers. In recognition of our impact using health evidence to change systems and lives, we were awarded the IHME Roux Prize in 2024.
At the Coalition we tackle fundamental questions that couldn’t be answered alone. And in 2025 we will continue by demonstrating the costs, cost-effectiveness and affordability of CHWs across health interventions. And we will develop a guiding document to improve future CHW economic evaluations, leading to stronger comparison and use of evidence.
Advocate.
We face barriers of fragmented and insufficient funding for community health. So international donors have a significant role to play. In 2024, we advocated with and to the funding community, including collaborating as part of the Community Health Delivery Partnership to facilitate better coordination of investments in target countries. And we seized the moment to amplify CHW voices; influence funder strategies ahead of replenishment processes; and mobilize proCHW champions from government and global institutions at the World Health Assembly and United Nations General Assembly.
Global financing institutions are making strides in the right direction. At the Coalition, we will spend 2025 focussing on improving data transparency, securing new and better commitments for community health, and guaranteeing accountability in the delivery of those commitments.
Activate.
For too long, discussions about CHWs have been happening without CHWs. Embracing ‘nothing about us, without us’ in 2024 over 11,000 CHWs enrolled in CHW Advocates training. And over 5000 (64% of whom are women) completed it. CHW Advocates then went on to enrol in the Speaker Bureau; represent themselves, their communities and their patients on the world stage during WHA and UNGA; and speak at events hosted by Africa CDC, the Global Financing Facility, and the Gates Foundation.
In 2025, we will continue to build power in communities through advocacy training, and seeding National Associations and NGO Coalitions. And with 43 countries accrediting and paying CHWs as part of their national health policy, we look forward to turning more countries purple together!
