Supply Chain for Community Health Workers (SC4CHWs) in Kenya
VillageReach is partnering with the Kenya Ministry of Health, county governments and the Community Health Units for Universal Health Coverage (CHU4UHC) to strengthen the health system and ensure that essential health supplies consistently reach under-reached communities.
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Empowering CHWs with Digital Solutions: A Roadmap for Transforming Community Health
Community Health Workers (CHWs) are the backbone of primary health care, bridging the gap between hard-to-reach areas and essential health services. Their pivotal role in preventive and primary care and their unique rapport with communities call for innovative solutions to enhance their effectiveness. Digital...Background
Since 2022, VillageReach has worked to strengthen the supply chain that supports Community Health Workers (CHWs) in Kenya. The initial collaboration with Lwala Community Alliance in Migori County focused on improving the supply chain competencies of CHWs to address frequent stockouts of essential health products at the community level.
Building on this foundation, VillageReach is now collaborating with the national government and the county governments of Migori, Homabay, Kwale, Turkana and Nyeri to:
- Strengthen last-mile delivery systems so CHWs can access and distribute life-saving health products
- Support the integration of CHWs into national and county health systems, including formal supply chain structures.
- Streamline digital solutions to better capture, analyze and use community-level supply chain data for decision-making.
The goal of the program is to ensure that CHWs have quality essential medicines and medical supplies when needed to effectively treat common community illnesses, particularly those affecting mothers and children.
How It Works
We measure our success by tracking improvements in the following system-wide indicators:
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Improved Supply Chain Data: We increase data visibility by ensuring a high percentage of Community Units (areas serving about 5,000 people) regularly report stock data into the Kenya Health Information System (KHIS).
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Enhanced CHW Expertise: We strengthen the community health workforce by tracking the improvement in supply chain knowledge shown by Community Health Workers (CHWs) between pre- and post-training assessments.
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Accurate Record Keeping: We monitor the percentage of CHWs who maintain 100% accuracy on their physical stock cards to ensure reliable inventory management.
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Consistent Stock Availability: We track the ultimate goal: a high percentage of CHWs consistently having tracer drugs (essential life-saving commodities) in stock to treat common illnesses.
Resources
A Case Study Series – Evidence and guidance for advancing integration across health procurement and supply chains
Strengthening Community Health Supply Chains in Kenya
Supply Chain for Community Health Workers Liberia Infographic
Supply Chain for Community Health Workers – Building responsive primary health care systems
Digital Tools for CHWs: Strengthening the community supply chain with data visibility
Beyond the Health Facility: Strengthening Community Supply Chains
SC4CHW Toolkit
Improving Availability of Medicines and Supplies at the Point of Care in Liberia
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
Program Impact
Strengthening Community Health Supply Chains in Kenya: Our Impact
Our work has been focused on embedding strong supply chain practices within Kenya’s Community Health Units for Universal Health Coverage (CHU4UHC), ensuring essential health supplies consistently reach the most under-reached communities.
We are helping to build a resilient system by:
- Elevating Supply Chain to the Leadership Level: Being embedded at the leadership level of the CHU4UHC program, we’ve succeeded in putting the community health supply chain on the national health agenda.
- Integrating Community Commodities: We are streamlining community-level supply chain processes into existing national and county structures. This includes:
- Quantification: Embedding community commodities directly into the national supply quantification process to prevent stockouts.
- Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): Developing County Supply Chain Management (SCM) SOPs that specifically include protocols for community commodity management.
- Training Curriculum: Integrating a dedicated supply chain module into the Basic Community Health Promoter Training Curriculum.
- Securing Long-Term Investment: We have successfully embedded the supply chain component into a $100+ million investment case for CHU4UHC, supporting its financial future and operational sustainability.
Partners
Government
- The Kenya Ministry of Health
- The Migori County Government, Ministry of Health
- The Kwale County Government, Ministry of Health
- The Baringo County Government, Ministry of Health
- The Homa Bay County Government, Ministry of Health
- The Turkana County Government, Ministry of Health
- The Nyeri County Government, Ministry of Health
Technical Partners
Related Global Impact
See the latest updates from our work to improve access to quality healthcare in the world’s most underserved communities.