Opinion: The front line knows how to deliver health for all. Let’s listen.

COVID-19 has laid bare that access to primary health care for everyone, everywhere is not only critical to the well-being of all people, but also to the stability, growth, and equity of economies and societies the world over. The pandemic has provided a painful reminder that individual health has a greater impact on our quality of life and is more interconnected with health across the globe than those with sufficient access to essential health services may have appreciated.

Building the resilient, equitable health systems necessary to achieve universal access to quality, community-based health care should be a priority for decision-makers across sectors. And there are some positive signs that leaders are reorienting approaches to health care, including G-20 nations’ creation of a global body to respond to future global health threats. Yet even if this profound crisis yields greater collective commitment to health for all, will front-line expertise and leadership be adequately valued?

Much depends on how global health stakeholders answer this question. At Johnson & Johnson, we firmly believe that those closest to health challenges must play a central role in solutions. Of the $500 million in new commitments to quality, accessible, culturally competent care made in the past two years by the J&J Family of Consumer Companies and the J&J Foundation, each dollar allocated is guided by the perspectives and lived experiences of those on the front lines of care: nurses, midwives, community health workers; entrepreneurs and communities developing models of culturally competent care; and our front-line partners and colleagues.

Living into this belief has strengthened our impact, partner relationships, and advocacy efforts. In the spirit of collaboration and our belief that the private sector has a role to play in achieving health for all, we are compelled to make the case for this approach and share what it means in practice.

Respect health workers

For patients and communities, health workers are the very heart of care. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a profound toll on health workers, bringing to light both persistent and new challenges and an urgency to find solutions. Whether it is providing opportunities for skills training and leadership development, addressing gender inequities and fair compensation, or supporting mental health and well-being, health workers need to be empowered and supported in providing widespread access to quality care.

One way J&J works to uplift front-line expertise is through our Center for Health Worker Innovation. The Center collaborates with partners around the world to address the pre-pandemic projected shortfall of 18 million health workers and provide resources to help the current health workforce thrive. We are focused on preparing health workers to deliver the highest quality care — especially where health burdens are greatest. The center is putting $250 million to work by 2030 to support at least 1 million nurses, midwives, and community health workers through research, training, capacity building, technology, and immediate assistance for those taking on COVID-19.

Prioritize diversity in health care

One reason why racial and social injustice persist as public health threats in the United States and globally is the lack of physicians, nurses, and scientists of color. Research tells us patients of color receive more effective care from health workers of color. In fact, more Black doctors could help reduce cardiovascular mortality by 16 deaths per 100,000 people per year and could reduce the gap between Black and white men in cardiovascular mortality by nearly 20%. Quite literally, we must change the face of health care in order to scale culturally competent care for everyone.

This has been a significant focus of Our Race to Health Equity, which launched in November 2020 to help eliminate health inequities for people of color. This $100 million, five-year commitment — with an initial focus on the U.S. — leverages our unique role within global health systems to improve diversity in clinical trials, support culturally competent care models, and build a generation of more representative doctors and nurses.

Fuel innovation informed by experience 

Social entrepreneurs imagine the world as it can and should be, and create products and services to get us there. The mission of J&J Impact Ventures, a fund within the J&J Foundation, is to find and nurture health impact entrepreneurs from communities that often do not receive venture-backed funding and those with lived experiences that inform their startup businesses.

Each health impact investment from this $50 million fund builds the case that front-line, mission-driven companies have a role to play in extending access to quality care to communities where markets fail and governments alone cannot meet the need. So far, our portfolio has invested in 47 entrepreneurs whose work has impacted 1.7 million people. And with each investment, J&J Impact Ventures provides technical assistance, mentorship, and access to J&J’s vast network. We are working to help the big ideas of these often-overlooked entrepreneurs scale and shine.

Value the wisdom of front-line partners

In addition to driving impact, NGO partners hold unique knowledge about community needs built on longstanding relationships and trust. Accordingly, we make sure to seek out the perspectives of our partners as both experts and implementers — from mothers2mothers, an African NGO that trains and employs women living with HIV as front-line community health workers; to the Foundation of the National Student Nurses' Association, which is helping to support and fund the education of diverse student nurses; to impact entrepreneurs like DANAdidik, Omaiven Health, and Lucia Health Guidelines that are innovating solutions to issues like nurse shortages and accelerating greater cultural competence in health care.

Health is fundamentally about people — patients, health workers who care for all of us, and community-based entrepreneurs developing relevant new solutions. This has never been more broadly understood as the world reels from COVID-19, or riper with promise as we work toward a future where better care for everyone, everywhere feels achievable. At J&J, we’ve rallied around this approach to corporate social good and remain committed to bridging expertise across sectors. Join us as we work together to achieve health for all.