Fighting malaria in the remote reaches of Cambodia

In Katsina, Nigeria, the region has made significant public health strides toward infectious disease prevention and control. The country’s Centre for Disease Control, the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, and Emergency Operations Centre are all leading efforts to increase immunization, inform people about prevention and treatment, and increase the infrastructure to treat outbreaks when they occur.

Agencies like the SHARE Center are beginning to hire peer support specialists, who are individuals who have lived experience of recovery from mental health conditions and substance use disorders. Peer support specialists provide non-clinical, strengths-based support and build trusting relationships with those in need of care. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for peer support specialists has grown exponentially and reports show that working with a peer support specialist can improve health outcomes and quality of life among other benefits.

The Carter Center, in collaboration with other organizations, launched a project to curb several neglected tropical diseases like river blindness. The Center and its partners provide health education through monthly visits from medical personnel to rural communities that are often most affected by these diseases and administer the necessary medication to fight the illnesses. Over the course of more than 20 years, the Center has delivered 27 million doses of disease-fighting medicine.

The state Ministry of Health in partnership with other local organizations is providing educational, medical outreach for pregnant women to discuss malaria, maternal mortality and the importance of having regular medical checkups, while providing necessary resources to increase their access to care.

Promotoras de salud, also known as community health workers, are helping to connect Latino immigrants with reliable and factual information about COVID-19. Using a peer-to-peer outreach model, a team of seven promotoras de salud from Centro San Bonifacio have "interacted with more than 4,000 Spanish speakers in Chicago."

In early January, doctors at UW Medical Center began preparing for a coronavirus outbreak by transforming a research lab into a screening center for coronavirus that delivers results within a day. Now, coupled with a mobile clinic that allows for people to be tested from within the confines of their cars, the city has been able to test a large volume of people more safely than if they were being tested from within a hospital.

India was declared polio-free in 2014 after several years of work by health staff who traveled across the country to distribute the vaccine. One key part of the strategy included efforts by the government to recruit and mobilize volunteers from across the country to assist health care workers in locating the children who needed the vaccine and building trust with their caregivers.

By the time sick kids reach a clinic, it can be too late. Through home visits, community health workers in Mali are spotting early signs of malaria, pneumonia, diarrheal disease, and malnutrition and providing treatment to sick kids right away. The approach shortens the time between the first signs of illness and treatment, saving lives in one of the countries with the highest rates of child mortality.

Hidalgo Medical Services is a nonprofit public health clinic that has set out to develop a model for delivering quality, affordable health care to rural communities through a comprehensive approach that addresses multiple patient needs at once.

King’s Partnership and Partners in Health are outliers in the global health community in focusing on the mentorship of Sierra Leone’s next generation of doctors. The country has a profound need for more medical experts.