Today the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria is announcing a crucial new catalytic fund to support community health workers across up to 10 African countries. The Africa Frontline First Catalytic Fund (AFF-CF) will provide financing to accelerate and sustain the scale up of frontline community health workers, the backbone of community health services.

The Global Fund warmly welcomes the first investments to the Africa Frontline First Catalytic Fund from the Johnson & Johnson Foundation and the Skoll Foundation totaling US $25 million. The Global Fund intends to match these and other investments to bolster support to and domestic financing for community health workers.

These pledges come ahead of the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment, which aims to raise US $18 billion to fund its next three-year cycle of grants. The Global Fund estimates that the funding of US $18 billion would save 20 million lives, while strengthening health and community systems to reinforce pandemic preparedness.

“For the first time in 20 years, many countries have seen HIV, TB and malaria cases worsen and community health workers are at the forefront of fighting these diseases. This is a unique moment for leaders to join forces and invest in the people and structures that will fight pandemics, infectious diseases, and other health threats, now and in the future” said Peter Sands, Executive Director of The Global Fund.

A professionalized workforce of community health workers, who work hand in hand with communities, is key to responding to future outbreaks and making gains on longstanding priorities. The Global Fund applauds these initial pledges from the Johnson & Johnson Foundation and the Skoll Foundation, but much more financial investment is needed to unlock the full potential and to ensure people access to professionalized, trained, compensated, and integrated community health workers.

The Africa Frontline First Catalytic Fund will help ensure that up to 10 African countries accelerate progress and improve health care delivered at the community level, as well as crucially ensure the women, who make up the large proportion of community health workers, are properly paid for their work. The Catalytic Fund will combine coordinated technical assistance and implementation funding, as well as investments to scale financing, employ digital tools, increase the availability of essential life-saving commodities, and better integrate community health workers within the overall health system.

Read the full article about catalytic investment at Skoll Foundation.