CARE has called on companies, governments, and civil society to treat investment in frontline health systems as essential economic infrastructure rather than charity, according to a press release authored by Crystal Lander, Associate Vice President of Global Advocacy, published on June 10, 2026. The organization warns that breakthrough innovations are advancing faster than ever, yet too many fail to reach the people who need them most. At the center of this gap is a projected global shortage of approximately 11 million health workers by 2030. CARE frames the issue as both a public health crisis and a business and economic crisis. Its thesis: innovation cannot deliver lasting value where people cannot trust, reach, or rely on the health system.
Global health investments, CARE argues, strengthen workforces, improve productivity, and support more resilient communities and markets. Between 2005 and 2018, a partnership between CARE, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Government of Bihar transformed one of India’s most fragile health systems. Average monthly patient visits at public health facilities increased from 39 patients per month to about 10,000 per facility. The partnership trained more than 200,000 frontline health workers and strengthened clinical mentoring. Maternal and childhood mortality also dropped significantly.
CARE points to its 10-year partnership with GSK, from 2011 to 2021, as another model of shared responsibility. By co-investing in community health systems across nine countries, the partnership contributed to a nearly 25% reduction in maternal mortality in supported communities. More than 12,000 health workers were trained, and millions of people gained access to essential services, including family planning. Private-sector engagement included work with Bangladesh’s garment industry, extending reach to at-risk women workers. Coalition platforms such as the Frontline Health Workers Coalition align pharmaceutical companies, NGOs, and governments around investment and advocacy.
In Tanzania, the TAMANI program produced a 12.9 percentage point increase in skilled birth attendance through healthcare worker training, infrastructure upgrades, and health management improvements. In the Philippines, CARE’s HEAL Hub program uses mobile apps to train and support barangay health workers who previously went years without formal training. Early results show increased confidence among health workers and improved daily presence at local health units. CARE notes that breakthrough science only delivers value when it reaches patients. As Lander writes, “reaching patients requires systems that are staffed, trained, trusted, and resilient.”
CARE outlines three priorities: recognizing health workforce and system investments as core economic infrastructure, scaling models of shared investment, and strengthening the last mile through digital tools and equitable delivery of advanced treatments. The organization stresses that long-term investment in frontline workers, clinics, referral systems, community partnerships, and public institutions is essential. The promise of global health innovation, it concludes, will be measured by whether people can reach, trust, and benefit from it. CARE urges companies, governments, and civil society to invest in the people and systems that make innovation reachable. In its final words, the true measure of progress is not what we create, but who we reach.
