CRI Health
A grant-making program dedicated to funding high impact implementers improving health outcomes in Africa
About CRI Health
CRI Health is the core grant-making program of CRI Foundation. We rigorously assess grant-making opportunities, and provide both financial, as well as non-financial support. We strive to be collaborative and forthcoming, and we expect the same of our partners.
We aim to be a long-term funder, but we take our renewal process seriously.
We have a highly sophisticated team of professional staff with decades of experience. We care deeply about our return on investment, and always remember we are fiduciaries of the foundation. It’s not our money. Our job is to spend it responsibly.
As such, we seek out grantees that are data-driven, and data-hungry. We look for evidence-based, or evidence-generating programs (for those testing new ideas).
The Problems We Are Trying To Solve
We provide funding to support critical unmet health needs across Africa; these are some of them:
Child and newborn health
In sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 13 children will die before they reach age five. Malnutrition is a major contributor to child mortality; an astounding 26.9 percent of children in East Africa, and 29.2 percent of children in Central Africa, suffer from undernourishment.
Malaria, diarrhea, and pneumonia are other major causes of child mortality across the region. Every one of these leading causes of death of children under 5 are preventable, and highly treatable.
These deaths are inexcusable, and we are working to change the status quo.
Mental Health
An estimated 87 million people in Africa over the age of 10 suffer from anxiety and/or depression, yet access to treatment is low, and often unavailable. International investment in mental health barely shows up in the statistics despite this extreme burden of disease.
We are working to change that.
Primary Care
Across Africa, community health workers (CHWs) are tasked with providing critical primary health care, especially for those living outside of urban environments. Yet despite their ubiquity, most CHW programs yield little change in health outcomes for the populations they serve. Why? They often work unsupervised, under-supplied, and grossly under-trained. We know CHWs can do immense good: We’ve seen them play a key role in driving down under 5 mortality rates, and driving up rates of facility-based deliveries and the use of reliable family planning. They can provide doorstep care, and link families to clinics. They can do these things, but only if we adequately invest in them.
Primary care should be available to everyone. We’re working to make it happen.