The Digitalizing Community Health Worker Payments Program, in partnership with the Government of Tanzania, is establishing a national framework for digital payments to community health workers (CHWs), marking a transformative shift in the country’s human resources for health infrastructure. 
 
In January 2024, the Tanzanian Ministry of Health (MOH) announced its goal to systematize the recruitment, training, and human resources management of health workers, in part through the launch of the Integrated and Coordinated Community Health Worker (ICCHW) program. The ICCHW program aims to recruit, train, and deploy 137,294 CHWs by 2028, compensating them with a monthly stipend through a digital payment system. 
 
Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Digitalizing Community Health Worker Payments Program in Tanzania directly supports the ICCHW initiative through the development and institutionalization of a government-endorsed digitized payout system. This infrastructure is designed to later be scaled beyond health to a nationalized payment system for contracted workers in education, agriculture, and other sectors. 
 
Building upon existing national programs and digital payment infrastructure, the Digitalizing Community Health Worker Payments Program emphasizes cross-ministerial collaboration and localized support to ensure the successful development, implementation, and maintenance of the ICCHW program. At the community level, trained ‘super-users’ will be deployed to enhance digital literacy, tailor software solutions, and train CHWs in the new digital programs. IntraHealth’s digital health and global support teams, alongside technical leaders, will oversee iterative implementation during the program’s 8-month lifecycle. 
 
By enabling reliable and timely payments for CHWs, the program aims to improve health workforce retention and incentivize high-quality care delivery. The ICCHW program, supported by this digital initiative, will ensure that even the most remote communities benefit from access to trained and supported health workers.