Who Makes Health Happen? Meet the Passionate People Behind our Global Systems

Welcome to the J&J Center for Health Worker Innovation’s site for the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly. On this page, you will find information about events related to frontline health workers and how to use social media to support and advocate for them and their critical work around the world.

Everyone, everywhere should have access to basic, quality health services. This is why Johnson & Johnson supports the World Health Organization’s call for universal health coverage (UHC). But good health doesn’t start in hospitals. Good health starts in homes and communities. So we are committed to celebrating and strengthening frontline health workers—the passionate people who define care for everyday people in everyday places, everywhere.

Frontline health workers are the gatekeepers to global health. They are nurses and respected medical experts delivering primary care to communities around the world. We cannot achieve UHC, SDG3 or other global health priorities if we cannot adequately support the health workers who are already the backbone of health in their communities, or bring 15 million more frontline health workers to the workforce.

In response to the challenges, the Johnson & Johnson Center for Health Worker Innovation strives to uplift the voices of health workers and foster a health workforce capable of meeting the immediate challenges of today and imminent threats of tomorrow. The Center catalyzes efforts to respond to the human resource crisis in global health and build a thriving health workforce that can achieve UHC and other global health priorities.

We invite you to hear directly from health workers through the events listed below—and use your own voice and platforms to spread the word.

Events & Activities from J&J and our partners

From Gender Policy to Gender Parity: Lessons from the Community Health Workforce
Date & Time: September 13, 2022 @ 8-9:30 am
Location: Virtual
Hosts: Community Health Impact Coalition (CHIC) + Last Mile Health
This event will bring together key partners working to increase gender equity in the community health workforce. Ministers, community health workers and funders will share their experiences and lessons learned as they have worked to design and implement gender-transformative policies. This includes: Liberia’s experience revising national policy to recruit and retain female community health workers, Ethiopia’s experience developing optimized training materials for the largely female health extension worker program, and Pakistan’s experience of the Lady Health Worker Program since its establishment in 1994. Register here.

PUSH at UNGA

Date & Time: September 18, 2022 @ 7:00-9:30 PM
Location: Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street, New York, NY, 10017
Hosts: International Confederation of Midwives
Since its announcement in 2020, PUSH — a decade-long, global campaign for women and the midwives who protect and uphold their rights — has galvanized support and solidarity from women and feminist groups worldwide. Now, as global leaders convene for the 77th United Nations General Assembly and against the backdrop of the US Government’s recently released Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis, International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) is delighted to invite you to PUSH at UNGA. This in-person event will feature incredible speakers and activists who are leading the work in this space, and bring together new actors and audiences in our collective effort to drastically improve health outcomes for women, newborns, and communities globally. If you're interested in attending this event, please reach out to: communications@internationalmidwives.org.

Breakfast Briefing: Everything You Need to Know to Support CHWs at UNGA and Beyond
Date & Time: September 19, 2022 @ 7:30-8:30 am
Hosts: Community Health Impact Coalition (CHIC)
The Community Health Impact Coalition will host an hour-long “coffee briefing” for Ministry of Health representatives, allies and funders. The event will highlight the most up-to-date research and resources on professional community health workers (proCHWs) to equip attendees to advocate for investing in proCHWs throughout the week. The event will highlight proCHW investment and advocacy opportunities at UNGA and recent resources supporting CHWs, and provide streamlined talking points and calls-to-action. The event is invite only.

Rx for Primary Health Care: A People-First Prescription
Date & Time:Tuesday, September 20, 12:30–3:00 p.m.
Location: The Westin New York Grand Central, Madison Ballroom - Lobby Level (212 East 42nd StreetNew York, NY 10017)
Hosts: Jhpiego
Join Jhpiego on September 20 for an engaging discussion on PHC in the 21st century. This session will bring together ministers of health, industry leaders, innovators, and implementers to re-imagine a client’s PHC journey, and discuss the enabling systems needed to integrate breakthrough innovations into scaled public sector service delivery. Keynote speaker Atul Gawande will share his global priorities for PHC, followed by a showcase of innovative local PHC solutions that illustrate how technology, data, design, and private sector engagement can be harnessed for PHC—from targeted social media for engaging and educating clients, to use of data science to inform differentiated models of care. A lively moderated panel discussion will bring ministers of health into conversation with donors and the private sector to discuss the key systemic enablers that will be required to accelerate gains in PHC and make this vision a reality for all. Learn more and register here.

Stories from the Heart of Health
Date & Time: September 20, 2022 @ 5-7 pm
Host: The Johnson & Johnson Center for Health Worker Innovation

This storytelling night will uplift the voices of health workers and allow guests to hear intimate stories from health workers, experience the history of care first-hand with the MICRO Museum of Care, and gain insight into what care looks like around the world with our photo gallery. The night will explore questions such as “Where does care actually happen?” “What inspires you to continue through challenges?” and issues in access, equity and co-partnership in care that get in the way of universal health coverage. The event is invite only. To request an invitation, email: chwi@its.jnj.com.

ICM's 100 Year Anniversary Celebration
Date & Time: September 20, 2022 @ 6:00-8:00 PM
Location: 369 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY, 10016
Host: International Confederation of Midwives
Join International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) to mark ICM's centennial anniversary alongside the 77th United Nations General Assembly in New York City. The celebration will highlight key achievements from the last 100 years, celebrate the incredible partners who have helped ICM get to where they are today, and lay out their vision for the next 100 years. Following celebratory words from the ICM team and long-standing partners, ICM will host guests for cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and some connecting with friends and colleagues. If you're interested in attending this event, please reach out to: communications@internationalmidwives.org.

Countdown to the 2023 High-Level Meeting: Reception for PHC & UHC Advocates
Date & Time: September 20, 2022 @ 6:30-8:30 PM
Location: 369 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY, 10016
Host: Living Goods, Allies Improving PHC, Civil Society Engagement Mechanism for UHC2030, Communities at the Heart of UHC, MSH, PATH
This is an informal reception on the sidelines of UNGA77 to generate collective excitement and momentum one year out from the 2023 UN High-Level Meeting on UHC. Food and drinks provided! Register here.

Reversing Global Declines in Immunization: Building Sustainable Vaccine Demand With and for Communities
Date & Time: Wednesday, September 21, 11:30-1 p.m. ET
Location: NeueHouse, Madison Square, Penthouse room ( 110 E 25th St, New York)
Hosts: Devex and the Sabin Vaccine Institute
This event will explore community-level challenges and barriers to vaccine uptake and what’s needed to restore and sustain widespread acceptance and demand for both COVID-19 vaccines and routine immunizations in low- and middle-income countries. It will also highlight lessons learned from an array of LMICs who have pioneered methods to drive high vaccination rates through extensive community outreach programs and engagement. We’ll hear from an array of voices ranging from frontline health workers and journalists covering vaccines in their communities, global health leaders, researchers and many more. The session will conclude with an interactive audience Q&A to give participants an opportunity to ask their own questions and provide their own perspectives. Learn more and register here.

Sustainable Surgical Systems and Planetary Health
Date & Time: Wednesday, September 21, 6-9 p.m. ET
Location: The Harvard Club of New York City
Hosts: Smile Train, Lifebox, the Harvard Program in Global Surgery and Social Change, The G4 Alliance, the International Federation of Surgical Colleges, Mobile Surgery International, and Kids Operating Room
Universal access to safe surgical and anesthesia care is essential to save lives, prevent disease and disability, foster economic development, and support resilient, pandemic-ready health systems. In the last decade, however, the gap has only widened as the world faces the multiple crises of the ongoing pandemic, growing economic and social inequities, and climate change. This event will convene diverse stakeholders across the global surgery and planetary health communities to discuss the challenges we must confront and the opportunities we must seize as we pursue health for all—and health for the future of our shared home. Learn more and register here.