Community Health Workers: Tackling Avoidable Childhood Deaths from Malaria Head-on
In Uganda, over 18,000 children under five die from malaria each year. Delayed treatment is a common cause of childhood deaths, especially in rural Uganda where distance to health facilities presents a major challenge. “Most of the children would suffer from malaria, diarrhoea, and coughs. But instead of taking the…
CHWs dedicated to improving health are recognized with REAL Awards
The second week of April is “World Health Worker Week” globally, and “National Public Health Week” in the US. These events give us a chance to reflect on the important roles of medical and public health workers in making all our lives healthier and better. If you are inspired by…
Former TB-patients Give Back as Community Health Workers
The Club des Amis Damien (CAD) is a Congolese non-governmental organization made up of community-based volunteer members. CAD’s members are former tuberculosis (TB) patients who work as community health workers for the organization. Rebecca Furth (RF) from Initiatives Inc. sat down with CAD’s National Secretary, Maxime Lunga (ML), to learn…
BRAC Frontline Health Workers –fighting a war against Tuberculosis and re-establishing the social status of TB patients
BRAC has been recruiting and training Shasthya Shebikas (SS), front line health workers, in Bangladesh since 1972. Currently 97,000 Shasthya Shebikas and an additional 10,000 Shasthya Komi are providing a multitude of health services in Bangladesh’s communities. For Tuberculosis, they provide TB information, identify TB cases and administer Directly Observed…
Using Community Health Workers to Support TB Patients: the Partners In Health Approach
The Partners In Health (PIH) model of partnering with community health workers (CHWs) in tuberculosis (TB) programs evolved out of our early experiences in the Central Plateau of Haiti. In the 1980’s, PIH co-founders Paul Farmer and Ophelia Dahl recognized that their first efforts to provide care for tuberculosis-infected patients…