Community Health
Championing countries’ efforts to extend the reach and range of their community health services
Strong community health systems are essential for meeting malaria and child health goals and for achieving PMI’s strategic objectives. Community health workers (CHWs) have demonstrated the ability to provide testing and treatment for malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia, and other childhood diseases. They make lifesaving care accessible to millions of people—an equity-based, proven approach for reducing child mortality. CHWs also play an active role in case follow-up and investigation in elimination settings.
PMI has supported countries in their journeys to scale up community case management since its launch, investing millions every year in community health worker training, supervision, and supplies. Despite these investments, major challenges remain in maintaining a well-supported, equipped, and fairly compensated community health workforce.
Coordinating with counterparts within and outside the U.S. government, PMI champions national efforts extend the reach and range of community health services and to finance, professionalize, and institutionalize community health worker programs as an integral part of the formal health system:
- PMI scales up community-based models of care that go further to reach the unreached with malaria testing and treatment. These approaches will vary according to the local context and may include the expansion of malaria community case management beyond young children to include patients of all ages and proactive visits by community health workers to bring testing and treatment to the household.
- PMI catalyzes funder and host-government investment, through both advocacy and provision of direct support of payment for community health workers for the first time, in these essential cadres and work to abolish the pay gap for women working on the frontlines.
- PMI invests in supply chains, protective equipment, training, supervision, and regular communication between community health workers and clinic staff.
- PMI strengthens health management information systems to collect disaggregated community-level data for use by CHWs and at all levels of the health systems.
Use of PMI Funds for Payment of Community Workers
On June 29, 2021, PMI officially announced a change in policy regarding use of PMI funds for payment of Community Health Worker (CHW) salaries and stipends, and PMI funds from any fiscal year may now be used to pay CHWs who provide community-based malaria case management services as part of the package of services they deliver.
Please refer to the frequently asked questions document for general clarifications, recommendations, requirements, evidence, and resources regarding this policy.
PMI-SUPPORTED COMMUNITY HEALTH RESOURCES
DIGITAL COMMUNITY HEALTH INITIATIVE
PMI recognizes the potential role that the ongoing digital transformation can play in catalyzing efforts to strengthen community health systems. Technologies are getting better, infrastructure is expanding and demand for digital services is growing. This intersection between PMI’s emphasis on community health systems and the ongoing digital transformation led us to launch our Digital Community Health Initiative in 2020. The goal of this initiative is to strengthen quality health delivery at the community level in PMI’s partner countries, by investing in the scale-up of digitally enabled community health platforms.
PMI funded foundational assessments in all 27 partner countries to understand the current environment and identify opportunities to strengthen digital community health. Those country profiles and a cross-country synthesis report can be found on our partner, Digital Square’s website.
CHILD HEALTH TASK FORCE INSTITUTIONALIZING ICCM SUB-GROUP
The Institutionalizing iCCM subgroup of the Child Health Task Force aims to support effective programs that are ministry-led, adequately resourced and managed, and with long-term commitments of support from partners. The subgroup provides a forum for donors, technical agencies, and implementing partners to coordinate their country level support to Ministries of Health for scaling-up integrated community case management. Many iCCM resources are available through the Task Force.
INTEGRATED COMMUNITY CASE MANAGEMENT HUB (iCCM)
The Child Health Taskforce’s Integrated Community Case Management Hub is available. You can find resources for iCCM like tools, reports, articles and event materials.
COMMUNITY HEALTH ROADMAP
The Community Health Roadmap’s mission is to mobilize new resources to support national priorities for community health, and to support the more efficient use of existing resources through stronger collaboration, coordination and alignment of donor investments.
Stories From the Field
Health Hero: Nneamaka Nwanka
Nneamaka Nwanka is a community health influencer and service agent who spends her days visiting homes throughout her community in Nigeria to care for those in need.
Coming together to protect almost half a million Beninese children from malaria
A successful partnership between the Government of Benin, PMI, and the Global Fund protects children during the rainy season when they are most at risk.
Taking Stock and Battling Malaria in Northwest Nigeria
Gloria Samuel is the officer-in-charge at a medicines dispensary in a remote area of Northwest Nigeria. She works around the clock to overcome supply challenges and make sure there are enough malaria medicines in stock to treat her patients and save lives.
Net Wins for Women and Children in Ghana
Nearly one in four people in Ghana who have received an insecticide-treated net are not using them. Midwife Edith Asare is determined to change that by educating pregnant women and caregivers of young children about the importance of sleeping under a net to protect themselves from potentially deadly mosquito bites.
