Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and faced the daunting task of rebuilding the devastated health system after a decade of civil war and the 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic. Nearly 30% of its population of 5 million live in remote communities more than five kilometers from the nearest health facility. The journey to access care can take several hours or more, traveling by foot, canoe, or motorbike on narrow paths carved through the rainforest. Despite enormous progress in healthcare access, gaps contribute to ongoing challenges, especially for mothers and children: Liberia still has one of the highest maternal mortality rates globally, at 742 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Drawing on the demonstrated power of community health workers in the fight against Ebola, the Ministry of Health launched the National Community Health Program in 2016, the country’s first-ever paid community health worker program, with Last Mile Health as the leading partner in designing, launching, and scaling the program. The program has made tremendous progress: community health workers provide life-saving primary care to more than one million Liberians and treat 45% of malaria cases in children under age five in rural areas.

Building on nearly 20 years of partnership, we have worked alongside the Ministry of Health to scale the National Community Health Program fully: as of June 2024, the program reaches every remote community in the country. Now, we are working together to expand and improve its services and increase government ownership while maintaining quality. The community health workforce has put Liberia on track to achieve universal health coverage by 2025—an enormous milestone and invaluable blueprint for countries across the continent and beyond.