How Women in Adamawa Are Rebuilding Trust in Family Planning

Village Health Teams are groups of community health workers helping rural women access family planning services. They travel from home to home offering counseling, education and connection to the resources women need but struggle to access, including condoms and pills, often all without having to visit a health facility. VHTs have reached several thousand residents, both with short and long-term contraceptive methods.

Rwanda has implemented a comprehensive, community-driven cervical cancer prevention program combining door-to-door screening campaigns, free HPV vaccination, and health insurance reforms to cover cancer treatment. Since the initiaives launched, six districts have achieved the World Health Organization’s elimination targets, putting Rwanda on track to become the first African country to eliminate cervical cancer by 2027.

Helpster Charity operates a tech-enabled emergency financing model that connects families facing urgent medical bills with donors through a website and app. The nonprofit uses volunteers stationed at partner health facilities to identify patients who can’t afford critical care for conditions like malaria, sickle cell anemia, and kidney problems. The organization has helped provide treatment for over 2,000 families across Nigeria, Kenya and Bangladesh.

Community health workers are stepping in to deliver essential healthcare services where conflict has destroyed local health facilities. These locally-trusted health workers conduct door-to-door visits to provide immunizations, screen children for malnutrition, refer emergency care and offer mental health support to those who need it, bridging gaps where traditional services can’t operate.

Over the past several years, Lithuania has implemented a comprehensive national strategy to combat high suicide rates by shifting from a medicalized approach to community-based support. One such strategy is Sidabrinė Linija, or Silver Line, a nonprofit offering free support to isolated seniors by matching them with a “befriender” who shares some of their interests. Since its inception, Silver Line has befriended 6,000 seniors. As a result of combined efforts from multiple initiatives, Lithuania’s suicide rate has dropped from 44 per 100,000 residents in 2004 to 19.5 per 100,000 today.

In 2025, Bauchi State launched the Impact Project to address Nigeria's maternal health crisis by deploying 100 Skilled Birth Attendants across 20 Local Government Areas, alongside free delivery kits and regular salary payments to increase access to professional childbirth care.

In Bauchi, Nigeria, Community Health Influencers, Promoters and Services (CHIPS) conduct home visits, screen for hypertension, and detect tropical diseases in communities where healthcare is hard to access. In Bauchi alone, the program has screened over 1.2 million people, identified approximately 54,000 hypertensive patients, and treated 67 cases of neglected tropical diseases within a single year.

Kano State's Zero Dose Learning Hub Community of Practice on Immunization is tackling the crisis of over 280,000 unvaccinated children in the state by coordinating across government ministries, the State House of Assembly, and community leaders to ensure immunization commitments translate into actual funding and vaccine delivery. Its effectiveness is reflected in a dramatic rise in immunization budgets. On the ground, Voluntary Community Mobilizers have helped dispel myths about vaccines.

Local organizations are working with the Department of Health and UNICEF to eradicate polio in Taraba state. By collaborating with community leaders, they’ve been able to spread positive information about polio vaccines, encouraging more families to vaccinate their children.

In an effort to address maternal mortality rates and overall maternal health conditions, groups of midwives are hosting community dialogue sessions that serve as educational opportunities for preventing danger. Maternal and infant mortality rates have already begun to decrease, and midwives also provide support beyond education, giving mothers food and other supplies as needed.