Clutching her medicine box, Tibre Desu rounded a bend and sauntered down a rough road towards the distant hills on the horizon. She had just replenished her stock of medical supplies at Work Amba Health Center. Now her mind was on Dembela Health Post, her work station at the heart of her village in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia.

Though she is based 90 kilometers out of Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray region, Tibre is a key player in Ethiopia’s health system. As one of the 38,000 frontline female health workers spread across the country’s rural areas, Tibre’s job is to trek those dirt paths, knocking on doors and calling on people in the fields with the single-minded-mission of stopping diseases from occurring and spreading.

The Global Fund / Petterik Wiggers / Panos