Breakthrough ACTION

Breakthrough ACTION, Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Program’s largest project, ignites collective action and encourages people to adopt healthier behaviors—from using modern contraceptive methods to sleeping under bed nets to getting a COVID-19 vaccine. The work harnesses the demonstrated power of communication and integrates innovative approaches from marketing science, behavioral economics and human-centered design.

Breakthrough ACTION started as a five-year, $300 million award in 2017 from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). In December 2021, the project received a three-year, $204 million expansion to continue its transformational work. As USAID’s flagship global social and behavior change project, Breakthrough ACTION is active in over 40 countries and growing.

The project’s focus areas include:

• COVID-19
• Democracy and governance
• Emerging infectious diseases, including Ebola and Zika
• Education
• Family planning and reproductive health
• Global Health Security Agenda
• HIV and AIDS
• Malaria
• Maternal, newborn, and child health
• Nutrition
• Tuberculosis

The project builds on the legacy of HC3 while nurturing new partnership with governments, civil society and communities around the world to: