Angela Natukunda, manager for the Masajja, Uganda, branch of Living Goods, recently shared a story of a community health promoter whose door to door experience stuck with her. She visited a family whose 4-year-old child had pneumonia, but the father said he recognized the worker — who was going door-to-door to teach good health practices and selling simple health supplies — from when she sold vegetables on the side of the road. There was no way she would treat his child, the father said.
But later that night the man knocked on the door of his next door neighbor, whose own child had been treated for pneumonia earlier that day, and asked whether he might share the treatment. That changed everything. The formerly skeptical father of the now healthy child, who is also a local leader, now occasionally accompanies the Living Goods community health worker on visits in case she meets anyone else harboring similar doubts.
One of the barriers to scaling community health work is the skepticism that people such as the Living Goods entrepreneurs cannot do what doctors can do. While new technologies are improving the work of community health workers, and filling the gaps that are not served by the model, this Avon-like model of door-to-door delivery of products from medicines to water filters to bednets is demonstrating a real impact.
About the author
Catherine Cheneycatherinecheney
Catherine Cheney is the Senior Editor for Special Coverage at Devex. She leads the editorial vision of Devex’s news events and editorial coverage of key moments on the global development calendar. Catherine joined Devex as a reporter, focusing on technology and innovation in making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining Devex, Catherine earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University, and worked as a web producer for POLITICO, a reporter for World Politics Review, and special projects editor at NationSwell. She has reported domestically and internationally for outlets including The Atlantic and the Washington Post. Catherine also works for the Solutions Journalism Network, a non profit organization that supports journalists and news organizations to report on responses to problems.
