Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and Africa Frontline First Strengthen Partnership to Accelerate Community Health Workforce Expansion

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) (www.AfricaCDC.org) and Africa Frontline First (AFF) have strengthened their strategic partnership through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The agreement will support the deployment of 200,000 Community Health Workers (CHWs) across Africa.

The signing took place on the margins of the World Health Summit Regional Meeting 2026 in Nairobi, marking a significant step forward in advancing Africa’s community health agenda.

Building on the achievements of the 2023–2025 collaboration, the agreement sets out a joint action plan for 2026–2028. It will combine AFF’s financing and technical expertise with Africa CDC’s convening power and leadership to accelerate the institutionalisation of CHWs within national health systems and support the African Union’s target of deploying 2 million polyvalent CHWs by 2030.

Between 2023 and 2025, Africa CDC, AFF, and the Global Fund made substantial progress in advancing community health across the continent, including:

• Advancing sustainability and political commitment: Worked with governments to embed CHWs into national health strategies and budgets, reinforcing domestic ownership and laying the groundwork for long-term health sovereignty. Countries such as Guinea, Burkina Faso, Uganda, and Liberia already have domestic commitments to community health in their national budgets.

• Scaling impact and financing: Influenced coordinated financing efforts, contributing to over USD 900 million in Global Fund commitments for community health. Supported the deployment and strengthening of more than 106,000 CHWs and helped mobilise over USD 218 million in funding towards national CHW programmes.

• Strengthening core systems: Advanced digital infrastructure, data systems, and integrated surveillance capabilities to improve service delivery, accountability, and system resilience. Co-developed key strategic tools, such as the continental community health programme investment case and the community health programme scorecard, to guide implementation and strengthen system coherence.

These achievements have contributed to a critical shift from fragmented, disease-specific interventions to more integrated, system-driven community health approaches.

Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Jean Kaseya, Director General of Africa CDC, emphasised the urgency of moving beyond commitments to tangible results, saying, “Strategic partnerships like the one with AFF are essential as our continent takes up the challenge of accelerating progress towards 2 million polyvalent and digitally enabled CHWs by 2030, contributing to the transformation of primary health care (PHC) and advancing Africa’s Health Security and Sovereignty agenda.”

Nan Chen, Co-Executive Director of Africa Frontline First, said: “For too long, community health has been funded in ways that make entire health systems fragile and dependent. A health system that cannot survive a shift in donor priorities is not a sovereign health system. It is a liability. This partnership is about replacing dependency with durability, so that community health in Africa belongs to Africa.”

Looking ahead, the partnership will focus on accelerating progress across five key areas: i) scaling the deployment of polyvalent CHWs in alignment with national priorities; ii) advancing sustainable financing, including greater domestic investment and integration into national budgets; iii) strengthening professionalisation through standardised training, certification, and career pathways; iv) integrating CHWs within primary health care and pandemic preparedness and response; and v) evaluating and documenting the impact of programmes.

The MoU reinforces a shared commitment to accelerate progress, strengthen health sovereignty, and deliver measurable impact at scale, particularly in underserved and hard-to-reach communities

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

Media Contacts:
Africa CDC: 
Margaret Muigai Edwin
Director of Communication&Public Information Directorate: Africa CDC
Tel: +255 742 635 592
Email: edwinm@africacdc.org   

Africa Frontline First:
Email: affcomms@africafrontlinefirst.org

Follow Africa CDC on:
LinkedIn: http://apo-opa.co/4deKdZS
X: http://apo-opa.co/4vWm55E
Facebook: http://apo-opa.co/4tIhmTO
YouTube: http://apo-opa.co/4t6ldZL

About Africa CDC:
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is the public health agency of the African Union. As an autonomous institution, Africa CDC supports AU Member States to strengthen health systems, improve disease surveillance, and enhance emergency preparedness and response.
For more information, visit: www.AfricaCDC.org 

About Africa Frontline First (AFF):
Africa Frontline First is an Africa-led partnership bringing together the Community Health Impact Coalition, the Financing Alliance for Health, and Last Mile Health, under the championship of H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The initiative works to mobilize financing and accelerate the scale-up of professional Community Health Workers across Africa.