Where We Work | Program
Supply Chain for Community Health Workers (SC4CHWs) in Kenya
VillageReach is supporting Lwala Community Alliance and the Kenya Ministry of Health to strengthen key areas of the health system to ensure supplies get to under-reached communities.
Together We Rise: The Power of Collaboration to Transform Health Care Delivery in Liberia
“Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success.” Edward Synge-Morley Radical collaboration is at the heart of VillageReach’s work. Over its two-decade history, VillageReach has collaborated with governments, the private sector and civil society organizations to develop, implement and...
The CHA Kit: Ensuring Liberia’s Community Health Workers Have the Commodities They Need
There is a Liberian adage that says, “Water can’t pass by a hole.” Unfortunately, in providing Community health workers (CHWs) the essential medicines and health commodities they need to do their jobs, we still encounter many systemic “holes”. The “water” can’t pass by, and...
Enhancing Liberia's Community Health Assistant Supply Chain
For the community health workers (CHWs) of Bomi County, Liberia, timely access to health products and supplies means they can serve their communities. In Liberia, where nearly 30 percent of people live at least 5 km from the closest health facility, it can also...
A New Digital Solution to Support Liberia’s Community Health Workers
I looked over the edge of the bridge and then back to my team. Looking at the faces of my colleagues, it was clear they would prefer to turn back. Who could blame them? We had been traveling for hours through rough rainforest terrain...
Fresh impetus for community health worker empowerment at CHW2023
“The moment before us is too important for us not to act now.” Former Liberian president, Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, opened the 3rd International Community Health Worker (CHW) Symposium 2023 with a clarion call to recognize the current and potential contributions of CHWs...
Highlighting the Importance of Integrated Services at AIDS 2022
“We simply cannot integrate services or leverage the full potential of Community Health Workers if they are not properly compensated, supported, and provided with the educational and material tools that they need to deliver their important work.” – Rebecca Alban, VillageReach
Closing the Vision Gap With Liberia's Community Health Assistant Workforce
Imagine a life fundamentally changed by a $1 investment. For over 800 million people around the world, there’s a critical tool to sustain their livelihood that remains out of reach: a pair of non-prescription reading glasses.
Designing solutions that meet health worker needs
Solving supply chain challenges, especially for community health workers (CHWs), requires a people-centered approach. This means solutions must be co-developed with key stakeholders, and a continuous feedback loop on performance and impact is critical to success. At VillageReach we use data and feedback from...
Innovation in the Face of COVID-19
In a pandemic, innovation is not an option. It is a requirement. At VillageReach, innovation has long been a core value. We believe creativity and fearless exploration are essential to developing sustainable solutions that improve the availability of health services and foster lasting change...
Getting PPE To The Last Mile
Originally posted on Skoll.org. As the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic bore down in Democratic Republic of Congo in December 2020, Bébé Bola, a community health worker (CHW) in the Pakadjuma township of Kinshasa knew that she and her colleagues lacked the personal...
Delivering health products on the road less traveled in Liberia: Part Two
Originally posted on medium.com. Community Health Workers (CHWs) are often the only link to primary health care services in under-reached communities around the world. This is the finale in a series (see part one here) that shows how strengthening supply chains supports CHWs, known as...
Delivering health supplies on the road less traveled in Liberia: Part One
In Liberia, Community Health Workers (CHWs) are often the only link to primary health care services for the most under-reached communities. To support them, the Liberia Ministry of Health, Last Mile Health and VillageReach are working together to make sure they have access to...
Building Stronger Community Health Systems Together
Originally posted on medium.com. In rural and remote communities around the world, people have to walk for hours or even days to reach the nearest clinic to access services and medicines, which may not even be available when they arrive. A people-centered health system...
COVID-19 and four focus areas
Originally posted on medium.com. Listening, learning and adjusting — this has been our method of operation since the last time I provided you an update about our COVID-19 response. Our priorities have evolved and it has been a balance of internal capacity, imperative continuity and the...Background
In 2022, VillageReach collaborated with Lwala Community Health in Migori County, Kenya to bolster the capabilities of community health workers. Recognizing the inconsistent supply of health products at the community level, the partnership aimed at enhancing the supply-chain competencies of the community health workforce. Additionally, we are working with streamlining existing country-level digital solutions to capture and analyse community-level supply chain data. The collaboration also championed the integration of Community Health Workers (CHWs) into both national and county public health systems, including their supply chains, while also refining last-mile delivery processes and methods.
The goal of the program is for community health workers to have quality essential health products (medicines and medical supplies) when needed for appropriate treatments of common community childhood and maternal illnesses.
How It Works
- Increased data availability: percentage of community units reporting stock data on KHIS
- Increased supply chain expertise: difference between pre- and post-training assessment
- Record keeping: percentage of CHWs with stock card accuracy of 100%
- Stock availability: % of CHWs with tracer life-saving commodities in stock
Resources
The Republic of Liberia Supply Chain Master Plan 2023 – 2028
Human resources & community health systems Application of the PtD supply chain management theory of change in Liberia
Reducing missed opportunities for vaccination in Mozambique: cross-sectional assessment (2017)
SC4CHWs: A New Approach in Liberia
Integrating Eyeglasses into Community Health Supply Chains in Liberia
Supplies at the Last Mile: Equipping CHWs in Liberia
Arming Community Health Workers For Battle
Supply Chain for Community Health Worker Program (SC4CHW) Overview
2015 Kwitanda Evaluation
2014 Kwitanda Evaluation
Kwitanda 2012
Kwitanda 2011
Kwitanda 2010
Program Approach
Kenya – Partnership with Lwala Community Alliance
This partnership aims to build capacity of CHWs in supply chain best practices, increase community health supply chain data use for decision-making and advocate for funding to connect CHWs to the national supply chain.
In 2023, the project kicked off through a baseline survey to assess community level supply chain gaps in Migori County, Kenya. The survey indicated that:
- Stock-outs of essential medicines and equipment are common for CHWs.
- There is inconsistent training of CHWs on stock management, leading to poor stock management and storage practices.
- Policies & financing at county and national levels are lacking.
Partners
Government
- The Kenya Ministry of Health
- The Migori County Government Ministry of Health
Technical Partners
- Lwala Community Alliance
Donors
- Global Fund
Related Global Impact
See the latest updates from our work to improve access to quality healthcare in the world’s most underserved communities.