Fanose Hirreno, Health Extension Worker, Ethiopia
Fanose Hirreno has been a health extension worker in the Koka region of Ethiopia for 18 years. She spends three days a week providing door-to-door care and two days supporting patients at her local community health post.
Launched in 2003, Ethiopia’s now world-renowned Health Extension Program includes 40,000 health extension workers who deliver lifesaving primary care – educating communities, preventing and testing for HIV, TB and malaria, supporting treatment, and referring patients when needed – across the entire country.
The vast majority of health extension workers across Ethiopia are women.
Women are more likely to open up to female health workers, which leads to better communication, greater access to services and improved health outcomes for both mothers and children.
Fanose says she takes pride in helping mothers make informed choices about their own health, their children’s health, and disease prevention. She says that when she began her work nearly two decades ago, many women were hesitant to accept services. But with outreach and trust-building, she has witnessed a shift: Today, mothers actively seek care, ask about preventive medicines and take more ownership of their health.
“You can’t deny this progress,” she says. “It makes you happy. This is a change that is clearly visible.”
In partnership with the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders, Global Fund investments have helped equip health extension workers with essential commodities, digital tools as well as training and skills-building programs to provide additional services, including improving family health.
A child born in Ethiopia today is almost three times more likely to survive past their fifth birthday than a child born in 2000. That’s thanks in large part to a 71% reduction in under-5 deaths from AIDS, TB and malaria – and to health extension workers like Fanose.