CHW Central

A global resource for and about Community Health Workers

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)

The origins of Ethiopia’s primary health care expansion: The politics of state building and health system strengthening

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Ethiopia received recognition as one of sub-Saharan Africa’s models of primary care, due in part to training and deploying over 30,000 Health Extension Workers since 2004. Kevin Croke discusses factors enabling the country to implement the program at scale. … [Read more...] about The origins of Ethiopia’s primary health care expansion: The politics of state building and health system strengthening

Task-sharing interventions for improving control of diabetes in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Impacts of health system physician shortages in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) can be mitigated by assigning tasks that require limited specialized knowledge to non-physician healthcare workers, including CHWs. Joseph Maria and colleagues reviewed 46 research studies to understand how this so-called “task-sharing” is applied to manage type 2 diabetes in LMICs. … [Read more...] about Task-sharing interventions for improving control of diabetes in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Willingness to pay for community delivery of antiretroviral treatment in urban Tanzania: a cross-sectional survey

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CHW-led antiretroviral therapy (ART) represents an opportunity to reduce the number of patients within healthcare facilities and expand universal coverage to remote areas. Pascal Geldsetzer and colleagues interviewed HIV patients in Tanzania to assess willingness to pay for CHW-led ART. Half of community members reported willingness to pay for CHW-led ART in amounts up to $3.61 … [Read more...] about Willingness to pay for community delivery of antiretroviral treatment in urban Tanzania: a cross-sectional survey

Understanding the importance of nonmaterial factors in retaining community health workers in low-income settings: a qualitative case-study in Ethiopia

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Low- and middle-income countries sometimes experience challenges motivating and retaining CHWs. Nikita Arora and colleagues interviewed Ethiopian Health Extension Workers (HEW) to identify opportunities to improve retention policies. In addition to financial incentives, the researchers identified improvements in health facility infrastructure, provision of childcare, and … [Read more...] about Understanding the importance of nonmaterial factors in retaining community health workers in low-income settings: a qualitative case-study in Ethiopia