Community Health Impact Coalition

x.com/SkollFoundatio… We’re excited to share that CHIC has been named a winner of the 2025 Skoll Award for Social Innovation! We are thrilled that this Award is shining a spotlight on our ongoing efforts to support community health workers. Thank you to the @SkollFoundation for amplifying the voices of innovators around the world.

What does it take to sustain #proCHWs? This month, conversations across the proCHW movement focused on a shared challenge: what it takes to move from policy momentum to systems that can sustainably support CHWs in practice. From Skoll World Forum to new research on AI and community health to preparations for #WHA79, our latest newsletter explores how the movement is increasingly shifting from recognition to implementation. Read more: sbee.link/pkdqv3uh84

As health systems are being asked to deliver more with fewer resources, how do countries sustain access to care? That’s one of the defining questions at #WHA79. Our answer: catalytic funding that helps countries transition #proCHW programs into national systems, backed by sustained domestic financing. The conversation continues in Geneva next week. If you’ll be at #WHA79, let us know in the comments ⤵️

Global health is at risk of repeating its pilot problem — this time with AI. We've seen this pattern before: rapid experimentation, weak public ownership, limited integration, and eventually — tools that exist in parallel to the systems they were meant to strengthen. At Skoll World Forum last month, CHIC convened a workshop where CHWs, governments, frontier AI labs, implementers, funders, and researchers to take stock of the rapidly evolving intersection of community health workers and AI. Are we using AI to strengthen community health systems or layering new tools onto fragmented ones? The consensus was clear. You can't AI your way out of a broken system. If AI is going to support CHWs, it must be integrated into professional, supervised, government-connected health systems. That means CHWs helping shape the tools they use, governments stewarding AI as public infrastructure, and funders investing in long-term integration instead of endless pilots. The next phase of AI in global health cannot just focus on innovation. It must focus on public system integration. → CHIC contributors recently co-authored a new Lancet Primary Care commentary on AI and community health exploring what it will take to move from disconnected AI pilots to integrated public systems:  thelancet.com/journals/lanpr…

CHWs should not just experience the effects of global health funding decisions. They should help shape them. Prossy Muyingo, a CHW from Uganda, is helping bring frontline perspective into broader conversations on global health funding, including recently with NPR:  sbee.link/4a3bmhe6gf

In 2025, global health financing came under pressure. Yet, investment in proCHWs increased. The Global Fund raised funding for proCHW programs by 32% to +$900M. How institutions frame investments shapes what countries can implement. Our 2025 Annual Report explores: sbee.link/xt8cv4hfab

Immunization coverage depends not only on vaccines—but on how health systems support the workforce closest to communities. Angelica Mutete Kiilu, a CHW from Kenya, shares why making professional CHWs the norm matters for immunization delivery. #WordlImmunizationWeek

Progress in immunization depends on whether CHWs are part of the system. As Ngoya Vincent, CHW in DRC shares: “When treated as informal support, gaps follow—missed children, weak mobilization, limited follow-up. When integrated, trust grows and care continues.”

In Malawi, CHWs administer +80% of all vaccinations. In Kenya, their outreach made infants 2.5x more likely to be fully immunized. It's simple: when we invest in CHWs, we invest in stronger, more resilient health systems: sbee.link/w76r4and83 #WorldImmunizationWeek

The question at #SkollWF wasn't what to build next. It was how to make what already works the norm. For CHWs, that starts with professional status, pay, and support. Proud of our CHIC delegation for carrying that message into every room this week. #proCHWs #SWF26

📣 CHIC’s April Research Round-Up is out. It highlights a growing disconnect: more than half of NGOs are already piloting AI tools, yet almost none are meaningfully integrated into national health systems. Dive into the full round-up: sbee.link/myj6vxa7fc

CHWs have long shown what’s possible when care is brought closer to people. But getting to national policy + public financing is where many efforts stall. At #SWF26, CHIC will join a session exploring how movements can translate emergent innovation into government adoption + domestic financing.

Most AI in community health is still stuck in pilots. Later this week at #SkollWF, CHIC is convening a session to focus on what it would take to move beyond pilots and into systems. For CHWs, that line is not abstract. It shapes whether new tools add complexity or support care in practice.

2025 demanded more from CHWs than many noticed. When systems are fragile, they absorb the shock. Carmen Vargas, a lead CHW in Peru, shares how CHWs are organizing—not just to be heard, but to shape policies that define their work in CHIC's annual report:sbee.link/dwv9yketxf

AI is reaching CHWs. But not through the systems they work in. Right now, most tools are introduced from the outside—without being set up to integrate into national programs. That’s what determines whether they become part of care, or something separate from it. 🔗 sbee.link/bexpqk3nug

CHIC’s goal is to see professional CHW policy in 95+ countries. In 2025, we reached the halfway 50 countries now recognize CHWs as accredited, salaried professionals in national policy. Our 2025 Annual Report explores how we got here + what it takes to keep moving: sbee.link/h36pwrcvye

CHIC at Skoll World Forum. On April 23, we’re facilitating: 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 Drawing on lessons from the #proCHW movement—where CHWs have moved from pilots to national programs across 60+ countries. 📍 Oxford | #SWF2026

In a year defined by fiscal contraction, progress on professional CHWs didn’t stall—it accelerated. 50 countries now recognize CHWs as accredited, salaried professionals in national policy. Our 2025 Annual Report explores what’s driving that shift: sbee.link/k6r3cftdap

CHWs aren’t a "nice-to-have." They’re core health system infrastructure. Integrated CHW programs can deliver care across entire communities for ~$0.59 per person per year. This #WHWWeek, we’re focusing on what it takes to sustain the workforce we celebrate. ➡️ sbee.link/efkwn8muvt

CHWs bring care to their neighbors’ doorsteps—but millions still lack pay, training, supervision, and supplies. This #WHWWeek, it’s time to move from celebration to financing and integrating #proCHWs into primary care systems: joinchic.org/join-us/

Investing in CHWs means investing in #HealthForAll today and resilient health systems for years to come. #proCHWs are low-cost and high-impact: our best bet in achieving UHC. This #WHWWeek, we call on partners & policymakers to support what works: paid, professional CHWs.