Friday
August 21
2026

Viewpoint: Scale Right, Not Cheap and Easy

By Ari Johnson

Two decades ago, I joined a group of Malians and Americans partnering with communities on the edge of Mali’s capital city. We aimed to bring care quickly to patients’ doorsteps, with no out-of-pocket fees. Volunteering our time, working out of a converted storage closet, we saw tremendous preventable suffering. When our neighbors struggled and failed to get care in time, we watched a toddler die from malaria. We mourned a young mother who died from an untreated cavity.

Photo courtesy of Mufid Majnun.

Source: Stanford Social Innovation Review (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Social Enterprise
Tags
human rights, impact measurement, innovation, public health, systems change