Community Health Workers: Forgotten No More

June 21, 2017A new global campaign is pushing for salaries, benefits, and formal employment for these crucial health workers.They crisscross the villages, urban settlements, hills, valleys and plains, sometimes on foot, sometimes on bicycles.They wear T-shirts with health messages. They carry bags of tablets, syrups, and health information materials. They mobilize communities to go for vaccinations. They distribute mosquito nets. They supply contraceptives. They accompany women to antenatal clinics and delivery rooms and ensure that they deliver their babies safely.They go by various names such as community health workers (CHWs), community health volunteers, madaktari wa kijiji, and so on.CHWs have never been a priority for the public health sector and they are rarely recognized or paid for the work they do.This is, however, bound to change.The World Health Organization (WHO),Amref Health Africa, andIntraHealth International have teamed up to launch a global campaign to have CHWs formally employed and given benefits, just as any other civil servants are.As a result, there were mentions and discussions of CHWs in several sessions of the70th World Health Assembly. The incoming WHO Director-General and former Minister of Health in Ethiopia,Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, promised to strengthen primary health care, including revamping the CHW agenda. Ethiopia has led the way in showing how CHWs can bolster the health system.The problem is attrition.  If CHWs were fully supported...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Source Type: news