Building Resilient Community Health Systems

In Burkina Faso, healthcare challenges are exacerbated by security issues and a lack of resources, sometimes leaving communities without access to critical services. Since 2020, Living Goods has partnered with the government of Burkina Faso and other partners to improve the reach and impact of community-based healthcare to address these issues. Past work has included advising the Ministry of Health (MoH) on their national COVID-19 response and the operationalization of their national community health strategy.

Currently, we directly support the digitizing, equipping, supervising and compensating (DESC) of more than 800 CHWs—called Agents de Santé à base Communautaire (ASBCs) in Burkina Faso—in two learning sites in Ziniaré and Manga districts reaching 500,000 people. These sites serve as centers of excellence, enabling us to demonstrate effective community health care and to test and scale innovative new health approaches.

Our Locations

Digitizing Community Health

Living Goods is supporting the Burkina Faso government to build a strong eCHIS which will lay the groundwork for a stronger, more resilient community health program. With financial support from the Helmsley Charitable Trust, Living Goods, in collaboration with the MoH, will develop strategic documents and tools for a sustainable, enhanced, and digitized community health system (eSanteCom). We will develop key planning and monitoring documents, strengthen the digital tool already deployed for CHWs, deploy a supervisor application, and maintain all components of the eSanteCom system.

The goal of this landmark system is to improve service delivery through enhanced training, data quality, and data usage for decision making, and ultimately to advance universal health coverage. The initiative will enable consistent quality of care and support data collection and reporting in near-real time (with offline capabilities for areas without service)—improving performance management and disease surveillance, among other outcomes. This will directly impact 18,000 CHWs, ensuring they can more effectively and efficiently reach 21 million people with quality care.

Impact of Our Work in Burkina Faso

Strengthening the Community Health Enabling Environment

Living Goods works with Burkina Faso’s national and district government partners to create a conducive policy environment and optimal conditions for CHWs to operate. For example, Living Goods served as a key advisor to the MoH on the development of its new National Community Health Strategy (2024-2026), including the creation and costing of an investment plan. With strong government commitment and financing, the strategy presents a significant opportunity to shape the country’s community health programming over the next 5 years. These and other efforts ensure that the government can implement, fund, and scale their DESC-enabled CHW program for the long run.

Implementing High-Impact Health Interventions

Living Goods supports CHWs to go door-to-door in their communities addressing critical health issues. CHWs focus on the health areas where they can make the greatest impact at the lowest cost, including prevention and treatment for common childhood illnesses like diarrhea, malaria, and pneumonia; supporting healthy pregnancies; and tracking nutrition and immunization statuses.

By implementing the DESC approach, Living Goods connects hard-to reach communities with high-quality health services — creating immediate, life-changing impact.

Implementing High-Impact Health Interventions

Living Goods supports CHWs to go door-to-door in their communities addressing critical health issues. CHWs focus on the health areas where they can make the greatest impact at the lowest cost, including prevention and treatment for common childhood illnesses like diarrhea, malaria, and pneumonia; supporting healthy pregnancies; and tracking nutrition and immunization statuses.

By implementing the DESC approach, Living Goods connects hard-to reach communities with high-quality health services — creating immediate, life-changing impact.

Strengthening the Community Health Enabling Environment

Living Goods works with Burkina Faso’s national and district government partners to create a conducive policy environment and optimal conditions for CHWs to operate. For example, Living Goods served as a key advisor to the MoH on the development of its new National Community Health Strategy (2024-2026), including the creation and costing of an investment plan.

With strong government commitment and financing, the strategy presents a significant opportunity to shape the country’s community health programming over the next 5 years. These and other efforts ensure that the government can implement, fund, and scale their DESC-enabled CHW program for the long run.

Our Projects

Funded by Global Fund, BIRCH is implemented in several sub-Saharan countries to provide technical assistance to governments to strengthen their community health programming and pandemic preparedness. In Burkina Faso, Living Goods, with technical support from Africa Frontline First and Last Mile Health, was entrusted with the technical management of the BIRCH Project by the MoH. During the first phase in 2023, resources were allocated to support the evaluation of the 2019-2023 National Community Health Strategy and the development of the new strategy.

We shared our implementation experience and emphasized the need for digitization and innovation. The new strategy focuses on four pillars: governance, access to healthcare services, use of quality services, and digitalization of interventions. Based on the positive results, a second phase of the project (2024-2026) was awarded, with a total of $900,000 for strategic community health efforts in the country.

“This project will strengthen our capacity to respond to local health challenges,” Dr. Issa Ouédraogo, Secretary General of the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene.
BIRCH is a Global Fund initiative supporting several sub-Saharan countries, including Burkina Faso, to expand financing for their community health priorities. Its main goal is to provide high-quality technical assistance to countries in preparing Global Fund funding requests and strengthening community health systems. In Burkina Faso, Living Goods has been entrusted with the technical management of the BIRCH project by the Ministry of Health and the Global Fund, through African Frontline First. During the first phase in 2023, $500,000 was allocated to support the evaluation and development of the new National Community Health Strategy and the continued digitization of community health. The strategy focuses on four pillars: governance, access to healthcare services, use of quality services, and digitalization of interventions. Based on the positive results, a second phase (2024-2026) was awarded, with a total of $900,000 for strategic community health efforts in Burkina Faso. Living Goods works with Africa Frontline First and Last Mile Health on the implementation of the BIRCH Project.

“This project will strengthen our capacity to respond to local health challenges.”
Dr Issa Ouédraogo, Secretary General of MSHP

The MoH selected Living Goods to lead the implementation of the Building Integrated Readiness for Community Health (BIRCH) Project. This project focuses on creating the necessary strategies, structure, and support for CHW programs to thrive and deliver high-quality, sustainable health services. Living Goods is spearheading efforts to strengthen partner coordination, craft crucial strategic documents such as the Village Health Team (VHT) Revitalization Strategy and Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) Strategy, lead assessments to identify gaps in the community health sector, and formulate planning frameworks. 

The MoH selected Living Goods to lead the implementation of the Building Integrated Readiness for Community Health (BIRCH) Project. This project focuses on creating the necessary strategies, structure, and support for CHW programs to thrive and deliver high-quality, sustainable health services. Living Goods is spearheading efforts to strengthen partner coordination, craft crucial strategic documents such as the Village Health Team (VHT) Revitalization Strategy and Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) Strategy, lead assessments to identify gaps in the community health sector, and formulate planning frameworks. 

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