Top employers in global health: A primer

Lack of access to basic health care, including affordable vaccines, modern contraceptives, and safe birth delivery, continues to put millions of lives at risk each year, particularly women and children. Many organizations, foundations, partnerships, and consultancy groups are committed to tackling these global health issues and providing affordable, sustainable solutions. Humanitarian agencies, in addition to providing emergency health assistance, also support local hospitals and deliver sexual and reproductive health care to those affected by conflicts and natural disasters. Tackling global health challenges requires not just technical experts and health practitioners, but also professionals with a range of skills, including advocacy, finance, communications, grant management, and logistics. Here is an overview of some of the top employers working in global health. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Launched in 2000, the foundation strives to help all people lead healthy and productive lives. In developing countries, their focus is on improving people’s health and providing them with the means to lift themselves out of extreme poverty, and in the U.S. the goal is to ensure equal access and opportunities for everyone to succeed in school and life. The foundation provides grants through its Global Development Program, Global Health Program, Global Policy and Advocacy, and United States Program. It works in over 100 countries and currently has more than 1,450 employees. The Global Health Division aims to tackle life-threatening diseases in developing countries and works with partners to deliver vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, and affordable solutions. The focus is on the provision of vaccines to prevent infectious diseases — such as HIV, polio, and malaria — and supporting integrated health solutions for family planning, nutrition, and maternal and child health. The foundation also funds provisions for the elimination or eradication of neglected tropical diseases, which are rare in western countries and therefore generally receive less donor funding. Most of the foundation’s global health programs are rolled out across Africa and Asia, while its work in innovation and research takes place in Europe, North America, and South America (where it also has programs targeting NTDs). The headquarters are based in Seattle with other offices in Beijing, Addis Ababa, London, Delhi, Abuja, Johannesburg, and Washington, DC. The Gates Foundation is known for being difficult to break into, and while their global footprint is massive, the number of full-time staff is rather small in comparison. If you are keen to work with the foundation, you can also look at their many grantees who hire for positions working on the projects they fund. Here are current job opportunities with organizations or projects that work with the Gates Foundation. Care International A leading humanitarian organization, Care International puts women and girls at the focus of their work, which ranges from advocacy to women’s economic empowerment to food and nutrition security and climate change. The organization’s work also focuses heavily on health — sexual and reproductive health, maternal health, child health, and HIV/AIDS. They provide access to health services and deliver training to local health workers in each of these areas. Last year, they reached 50 million people (72 percent women) directly on sexual, reproductive, and maternal health and rights. Care International has 16 members and four affiliate members. Its headquarters are in Geneva with one representation based in New York and another in Brussels. One of Care’s largest members is Care USA, which is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with an office in Washington, DC. View current job opportunities with Care International and its members and affiliates here. Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) CHAI was founded in 2002 with the goal of saving the lives of millions living with HIV/AIDS in the developing world. The initiative takes a solution-orientated approach, working at a national and global level to lower prices for treatments, improve access to lifesaving technologies, and help governments build the capacity to deliver high-quality care and treatment. The organization also addresses health financing, data for decision-making, vaccines, malaria, and maternal, newborn, and child health. CHAI is present in 33 countries, while more than 70 countries are now able to access high-quality medicines and diagnostics as a result of price reductions it helped negotiate. The initiative’s main office is based in Boston, but it has approximately 1,500 staff working across the world. View current job opportunities with the Clinton Health Access Initiative here. Family Health Initiative (FH1 360) FHI 360 aims to improve lives around the world through advancing integrated, locally driven solutions. Working on the belief that the key aspects of our lives are linked, the organization delivers programs across many areas, including civil society, communication and marketing, economic development, education, environment, gender, health, integrated development, nutrition, research, technology, and youth. Health is at the core of the organization's work, including with experts on a range of global health issues from chronic and noncommunicable diseases, to HIV/AIDS, to reproductive and sexual health, to social and behavior change communication. FHI 360 operates in over 60 countries worldwide. Its headquarters are based in Durham, North Carolina, with additional offices in Atlanta, New York, Washington, D.C., Bangkok, and Pretoria. View current job opportunities with FHI 360 here. International Committee of the Red Cross As a humanitarian organization focused on protecting and assisting victims of armed conflicts and other situations of violence, health is a major focus of the ICRC’s work. Established in 1863, the organization works to ensure that people affected by conflict have access to basic health care that meets universally recognized standards — whether this involves supporting existing health services or temporarily replacing them. The ICRC is currently assisting hospitals in various cities in Iraq, Yemen, South Sudan, among others, and also works through partnerships to deliver training to medical practitioners on technical areas such as war surgery. The ICRC headquarters is based in Geneva, but the organization has delegations in over 80 countries worldwide. View current job opportunities with the American Red Cross, an affiliate of the ICRC, here. International Medical Corps (IMC) Established in 1984 by a group of volunteer doctors and nurses, IMC is a global humanitarian aid organization that provides training and emergency health care and services. It serves populations affected by conflict, natural disaster, and disease, working to deliver services in family and community health, women’s and children’s health, mental health, and psychosocial support, and water, sanitation, and hygiene. Through training initiatives, the organization aims to build self-reliant communities and increase the impact of its work. The IMC is currently working with more than 7,000 staff — 89 percent of whom are local staff — to support communities in over 30 countries. The headquarters is in Los Angeles with additional offices in Washington, D.C., and London. View current job opportunities with IMC here. Management Services for Health (MSH) Management Services for Health is a nonprofit organization that focuses on working with local leaders and local institutions to build stronger health systems and improve the quality, affordability, and availability of health services around the world. The organization works across all levels — with health care consumers, health professionals, and policymakers — to foster country-led and country-owned programs. MSH provides expertise in global health security, financing health services, pharmaceutical management, and leadership, management, and governance. In addition to implementing care and treatment interventions for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, the organization also addresses women’s, children’s, and adolescent’s health issues. MSH now has offices in over 50 countries and experience working in more than 150 countries, including fragile states, since it was founded in 1971. View current job opportunities with MSH here. Marie Stopes International (MSI) MSI works globally in 37 countries to provide contraception and, where legally permitted, safe abortion and post-abortion care to women and girls. The organization now has a network of more than 600 centers where clients can access high-quality, affordable contraception and safe abortion services. The fees are based on the demographic of the local area with income from centers in wealthier regions helping to subsidize centers in urban slums and support services for poorer clients. The organization has 13,000 team members worldwide, some of whom are delivering sexual and reproductive health services to women in fragile states, conflicts zones, and during times of natural disaster. In addition to delivering services on the ground, the organization works with governments to strengthen existing health systems. The organization's headquarters are in London and it has support offices across the regions it serves — 16 of which are in Africa. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) MSF is an international, independent humanitarian organization that delivers medical assistance to those impacted by conflict, natural disasters, epidemics, or health care exclusion. The organization carries out activities in performing surgeries, assisting childbirths, fighting epidemics, running hospitals and clinics, providing mental health care, and distributing humanitarian relief. Founded in 1971 by a group of journalists and doctors, in response to the war and famine in what was then the unrecognized state of Biafra, MSF is now present in 71 countries and has its headquarters in Geneva. The organization hires health practitioners — such as pharmacists, nutritionists, midwives, and HIV or TB doctors — as well as professionals from finance, human resources, and logistics backgrounds. View current job opportunities with MSF here. Partners in Health (PIH) PIH is a nonprofit that provides health care to those who need it most and works with local governments and leading medical and academic institutions to strengthen and expand health systems. The organization currently operates in 10 countries — Liberia, Sierra Leone, Russia, Navajo Nation in the U.S., Peru, Mexico, Haiti, Lesotho, Rwanda, and Malawi — and mainly in remote areas where health care services are scarce. Its programs across these countries cover Ebola, mental health, maternal health, child health, cholera, cancer and chronic diseases, HIV/AIDS, surgical care, tuberculosis, and nursing. PHI works with mission partners and affiliated projects in most of the countries it operates, with the principal mission of fulfilling long-term commitments to the people it serves. The headquarter is in Boston, while PHI Canada has an office in Toronto. Population Services International (PSI) PSI provides life-saving information, products, and services to tackle global health issues and aims to help people lead healthier, happier, and more productive lives. The nonprofit helps women and couples with family planning, safe pregnancies and deliveries, and protection for themselves and their families from life-threatening diseases. Through its programs, PSI addresses issues on child health, contraception, gender-based violence, HIV and sexually transmitted infections, malaria, maternal health, noncommunicable diseases, respiratory illnesses, and water, sanitation, and hygiene. The organization takes an evidence-based approach to its work and also provides research and resources for the global health community. PSI’s headquarters is based in Washington, D.C., but the organization’s 8,000 staff work across 50 countries. View current job opportunities with PSI here. Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) PATH is an international nonprofit, leading in global health innovation. The organization works to improve lives, especially among women and children, by advancing innovation across five areas — vaccines, drugs, diagnostics, devices, and systems and service innovations. Working through cross-sector partnerships, PATH aims to increase its reach and make its tool and strategies accessible on a greater scale. Its country-based projects address high-priority health issues at a local and national level through working with governments and private-sector partners, while its global partnerships focus on international health priorities, policies, and financing. The organization provides expertise across a wide range of health issues — from applied behavioral communication, to women’s cancers, to reproductive health. Leveraging this technical expertise, it also works to advocate for policy change. PATH’s headquarters is in Seattle, while it is present in more than 65 countries around the world. View job current opportunities with PATH here. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria The Global Fund is a partnership organization, founded in 2002, that brings together governments, civil society groups, private sector players, and people affected by AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. The Global Fund is a financing institution, so it does not implement programs on the ground — rather, it raises and invests almost $4 billion a year to support locally run programs in countries and communities where the need is greatest. The Global Fund does not have offices in the countries where it invests and all its staff are based at the Secretariat in Geneva. The staff here carry out the day-to-day operations focusing on managing grants and partner collaboration, and other necessary roles, such as legal, communication, coordinating strategy, data management, and integrating gender and human rights issues into the funding cycle. View current opportunities with The Global Fund here. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) UNFPA is the lead U.N. agency working on reproductive health care for women and youth in more than 150 countries. The agency takes a rights-based approach in working toward the SDGs, particularly Goal 3 on health and well-being, Goal 4 on education, and Goal 5 on gender equality. It promotes access to modern contraception, delivers safe-birth supplies, trains thousands of health workers, and works to prevent gender-based violence and encourage communities to abandon harmful practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation. UNFPA also works with governments, U.N. agencies, and other partners to ensure reproductive health is integrated into emergency response during conflicts, natural disasters, and other emergencies when these health issues are often overlooked. The agency’s headquarters is based in New York. World Health Organization (WHO) WHO is responsible for directing and coordinating global health matters within the U.N. system. The agency provides leadership on critical health matters, shapes the research agenda, sets the norms and standards, then promotes and monitors their implementation, promotes ethical and evidence-based policy options, provides technical support, and monitors health situations and trends globally. Established in 1948, the agency now has more than 7,000 people working across 149 country offices, six regional offices, and the headquarters in Geneva. Staff work on health systems, health promotion, noncommunicable diseases, communicable disease, corporate services, and preparedness, surveillance and response. View current job opportunities with the World Health Organization here. Other organizations working on global health include • Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition • Global Health Council • Global Health Fellows Program • International HIV/AIDS Alliance (AIDS Alliance) • International Society for Vaccines • IntraHealth International • The Malaria Consortium • National AIDS Control Council • Task Force for Global Health • The Malaria Consortium • WITS Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (WRHI) View more organizations working on global health here and all current global health job opportunities on the job board Devex here.