Namuwaya Nsabu weighs her 9 month old baby before receiving immunization services at Nakaloke Health Center III in Mbale, Uganda. Photo by Esther Ruth Mbabazi for IntraHealth International.

During 2021, the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, IntraHealth International reached 317,443 health workers in 42 countries, helping to make high-quality health care available to more people around the world. Our programs led to:

• $33,399,555 in financial aid provided for student health workers through IntraHealth programs
• 2,524,424 COVID-19 vaccines distributed through IntraHealth programs
• 223,677 men provided with voluntary medical male circumcision to prevent HIV infection
• 2,264,216 messages sent to and from health workers via mHero, WhatsApp, or other digital health tools
• 898,190 individuals tested for HIV and received results
• 8,231,279 family planning users through IntraHealth programs
• 1,389,009 new users of contraception
• 504,185 children under 5 treated for malaria

Even before the pandemic, the World Health Organization estimated a shortfall of 18 million health workers by 2030. Now, 15 million more health workers are needed in low and lower-middle income countries alone to respond to the needs of the health system and achieve universal health coverage.

IntraHealth International reached 317,443 health workers in 42 countries.

“The difficulties many countries have faced in responding to COVID-19 and rapidly delivering vaccines, tests, treatment, and supportive care have shone a spotlight on vulnerabilities in health systems and workforces around the world,” says Polly Dunford, IntraHealth’s president and CEO. “But we know that by investing in and supporting health workers—including and especially community health workers, nurses, and midwives—we can make great strides in COVID-19 response and in achieving universal health coverage.”

In 2021, IntraHealth focused on expanding digital health tools, responding to global health security threats, and training and supporting local health organizations. We expanded our iHRIS software to 25 countries, who now use it to manage their health worker personnel records, trained 9,000+ health workers on COVID-19 response, and worked with 74 local organizations to help them prepare to receive funding from USAID and PEPFAR.

See more 2021 results in our full annual report.

IntraHealth believes everyone everywhere should have the health care they need to thrive. Our mission is to improve the performance of health workers and strengthen the systems in which they work.

Banner photo: Jeanne Uwimana is a gender-based violence officer at the Isange One Stop Center at the Nyanza District Hospital. Photo by Innocent Ishimwe for IntraHealth International.