Can training neighbors to provide basic health care to each other help save lives? That's the promise of community health care workers who are being trained in developing countries, and they could help out in the developed world as well.

This video was produced in partnership with the Skoll Foundation.

There is an urgent challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa: people are dying from treatable illnesses like malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea. The traditional model is that families find their way to a doctor or a hospital for their healthcare needs. But millions of families live in hard-to-reach communities that may be hours—or days—from the nearest clinic.

That’s why Community Health Workers—paid, professionally trained members of these local communities—are bringing primary health services straight to their neighbors’ doorsteps. Empowered with sophisticated training, supervision, and digital tools, Community Health Workers extend the reach of the healthcare system to rural and remote communities. And it’s working: Community Health Workers have been proven to dramatically reduce mortality rates for pregnant women and their children.

Now, governments and NGOs are partnering to ensure this model can grow globally to ensure everyone, everywhere can access lifesaving healthcare.

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