Access to affordable, quality, healthcare is one of the biggest factors impacting the prosperity of individuals and communities. However, the challenges and barriers that underserved communities face are as diverse and complex as these communities themselves. These limiting factors may include cost, lack of local infrastructure, cultural attitudes, misinformation, discrimination, distrust in the healthcare system, or insufficient awareness of health issues and available resources, just to name a few. Therefore, understanding these barriers and proactively reaching out with solutions is key to building prosperity in our communities.

How do you provide basic healthcare to children in remote communities with no local healthcare infrastructure of their own? That might not even be accessible by car? Or have no running water? How do you reach the children of families that may have never been to a doctor before?

These are some of the challenges that countless families in rural West Africa face on a daily basis. Health 2 Go (H2Go) was launched in 2016 to address these issues and bring basic healthcare to children under 5 years of age to rural and underserved communities in West Africa.

Overview of Health 2 Go

*Data reflects total impact to date, current as of September 30, 2022.

H2Go is a program that provides quality basic health resources to rural and other underserved communities using a distributed delivery model operated by local residents trained as community health workers. It currently serves a population of over 20,000 people across two communities in Ghana. The program builds community capacity through education and health promotion, treating basic illnesses in communities for infants and children under 5, and connecting residents with complicated illnesses to appropriate health facilities.

H2Go addresses deficits in many other community-based health delivery systems by providing rigorous and ongoing training, an effective supervision structure, and quality equipment and supplies. This equipment includes medicine, diagnostic tools, record keeping tools, and even durable bicycles that allow community health workers to bring health care to the communities where they need it. It engages with communities as active partners, has a clear integration with the formal clinical care system, and certifies community health workers and the sites where they work.

The Impact of H2Go

H2Go began in November of 2016 with the successful launch of the Wawase CHPS (Community-based Planning, Health, and Services) Zone Pilot, and has now been operational for over 6 years, serving a population of 1,500 residents in a remote area of the Kpong sub-District of the Lower Manya Krobo District (Eastern Region) in Ghana.

Following this success, the Barekuma Community Collaborative Development Program (BCCDP) was launched as a larger demonstration site in May of 2018. It has been operational for over 4 years and serves a population of 20,000 residents in the Barekese Sub-district of the Atwima Nwabiagya North District (Ashanti Region) in Ghana.

Having been tested for over 6 years in these 2 different areas, H2Go has been shown to be able to cost-effectively address most illnesses among children under age 5 in the community, improve community health literacy, and reduce demand on health facilities.

The Future of H2Go

The outstanding success of the H2Go pilot and demonstration programs has paved the way for the program to scale, bringing healthcare access to many more communities. Professor Steve Alder, co-founder of H2Go; Executive Director of the Center for Business, Health, and Prosperity; and President of Ensign Global College, comments on the pathway forward:

“We are very pleased with the results so far and have solved the vast majority of the operational challenges that go along with programs like this. We recognize that in order to move forward, we need a business model that will help us create ongoing resource streams, instead of relying on donor funds. In collaboration with local leaders in Ghana and colleagues at the University of Oxford, we formulated a strategy to transition H2Go from being a standard public health program to a social franchise-based system. This will allow us to scale all the way up to a very broad franchise.

“Now, in 2023, we are ready to find social franchise partners, and together, find the resources, get the program implemented, and adapt to challenges faced in new locations. We’re hoping to start moving to a national implementation in Ghana and to start looking at other similar countries who would benefit from Health 2 Go as adapted to their particular location.”

Stay tuned for future articles on H2Go, highlighting the challenges of getting a program like this off the ground, and the perspective of the community partners, community health workers, and community members who have been recipients of healthcare through H2G0.

Further Reading