Benin: Strengthening Community Health for Sustainable Primary Health Care 

Health Care Financing, HIV & AIDS, Leadership, Management, and Governance

Benin: Strengthening Community Health for Sustainable Primary Health Care 

Leadership Management and Governance, Benin, IHSA

Overview

Benin is advancing its Politique Nationale de Santé Communautaire (PNSC; 2024–2030) — the National Community Health Policy — to deliver essential primary health care services directly to households through Relais Communautaires (RCs, or community relays) and Agents de Santé Communautaire Qualifiés (ASCQs, or qualified community health workers).

A central component of this work is application of the Community Health Planning and Costing Tool (CHPCT), developed by MSH in collaboration with UNICEF and used in multiple countries, to model service delivery costs, fiscal sustainability, and projected health impact. In Benin, CHPCT supports national stakeholders in assessing cost-effectiveness, estimating long-term financing requirements, and shaping evidence-based investment cases for community health.

Our approach focuses on:

  • Translating national policy into operational and institutional arrangements
  • Strengthening sustainable community health financing pathways
  • Reinforcing decentralized planning and execution at commune level
  • Building national capacity for data-driven oversight and decision-making

By aligning financing, governance, and frontline delivery, MSH supports Benin in building a resilient, nationally led community health system that advances universal health coverage.

Related Focus Areas

Health Care FinancingLeadership, Management, and GovernancePandemic Preparedness and ResponsePolicy and AdvocacyPrimary Health CareSystems Thinking for HealthUniversal Health CoverageWomen’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health
A health worker administers a COVID vaccine to a man under a tree in Benin.

From Policy to Platform: Operationalizing Community Health Reform

  • Benin’s PNSC sets an ambitious vision: bring primary health care closer to communities while strengthening national ownership.
  • MSH works alongside national institutions to translate that vision into actionable financing frameworks, coordination mechanisms, and performance monitoring tool
Patrick Pascal Saint Firmin web headshot
Patrick Pascal Saint-Firmin

Project Advisor

Project Contact

Dr. Pascal Saint-Firmin brings more than 18 years of global expertise at the intersection of health financing, analytics, and health systems strengthening across more than 20 countries. A physician by training and health financing leader by practice, he partners with governments and development institutions to strengthen domestic resource mobilization, improve financing efficiency, design sustainable purchasing and payment systems, and unlock innovative public and private financing solutions. Drawing on experience across the Caribbean, Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa, Pascal helps countries build resilient, community-centered health systems that deliver long-term impact while protecting populations from financial hardship.

Related Projects

A community health voulnteer during the polio vaccination campaign photo by Samy Rakotoniaina
Community Health Planning and Costing

[Adekeye Dorcas and her two children at their home in Kwara state, Nigeria.] {Photo credit: Mary Dauda/MSH}
Primary Health Care Performance Management (PHC-PM)

A group of people meeting and working on their laptops.
Azura Sankofa Advisory at MSH

Donors & Partners

Donor

  • UNICEF

Partners

  • Government of Benin
  • Agence Nationale des Soins de Santé Primaires (ANSSP)
  • Conseil National de Lutte contre le VIH, la Tuberculose, le Paludisme, les Hépatites, les IST et les Épidémies (CNLS-TP)
  • Ministry of Health technical units
  • One Health Platform

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