For years, Ethiopia ran an average of 14 independent health campaigns annually. While these were successful efforts, the Ministry of Health realized that to reach more people, they needed an integrated strategy rather than more campaigns.

To transform its approach into one that strengthened its health system, Ethiopia became a pioneer in adopting the Health Campaign Effectiveness Coalition’s Collaborative Action Strategy (CAS) into its own national strategy, called the Ethiopia CAS (E-CAS). The Health Campaign Effectiveness Coalition is a program of The Task Force for Global Health. The CAS framework improves health campaign effectiveness by transforming siloed campaigns into more integrated, coordinated, and efficient interventions that work in concert with primary health care services, freeing up resources for other critical needs. 

In May 2025, Ethiopia launched its first integrated campaign guided by the E-CAS, unifying measles vaccinations, routine immunizations, and maternal and child health services. The effort mobilized 20,000 health workers who provided vaccinations, deworming, nutrition, and other services to families all at the same time.

“This campaign reflects our collective effort to protect the health of children, mothers, and beyond, and strengthen our health system through collaborative and community-centered approaches,” said Dr. Dereje Duguma, State Minister, Health Service and Program Wing, Federal Ministry of Health, Ethiopia. “It requires strong coordination and participation of all government bodies, partner organizations, associations, and the community.” 

The results were immense: 18.5 million children were vaccinated against measles, 16 million received Vitamin A, and 11 million received deworming medicine. Furthermore, the initiative successfully delivered critical services to four million pregnant women and mothers, while also reaching 200,000 children who were previously unvaccinated.

Beyond the numbers, this strategy enhanced stakeholder coordination, standardized health worker training, improved logistics and resource coordination, and harmonized digital tools – all of which have since benefitted additional integrated campaigns. Ethiopia’s experience shows the CAS has the potential to pave the way for a new, integrated, and sustainable approach to global health campaigns that maximizes every dollar, improves productivity of community health workers, and reaches every child possible.