Many health interventions adopt a top-down approach, failing to consider community priorities, resources, and expertise.

These programmes often focus narrowly on formal health systems or specific indicators, neglecting the broader ‘community system’ that supports health and well-being. Additionally, emerging technologies like AI and data science are rarely used to align resources with local needs.

This combination of factors results in significant resource wastage and persistent health inequalities—despite $161 billion spent annually on global aid (OECD).

At Stema, we believe there's a better way.

We collaborate with communities, partners, and decision-makers to co-create healthier communities. By combining local expertise with innovation, data, and technology, we transform health interventions.

Community Positive Health (CPH) is Stema’s unique framework for improving health in low-resource settings by placing communities at the centre. Stema has worked in Kenya, Peru, Sierra Leone, and South Africa to identify key building blocks of CPH and develop a measurement framework for better decision-making.

Over the next three years, we will refine our model, drive innovation and assess its impact compared to traditional top-down models.