Authors: Henry B Perry, Ranu S Dhillon, Anne Liu, Ketan Chitnis, Rajesh Panjabi, Daniel Palazuelos, Alain Koffi, Joseph N Kandeh, Mamady Camara, Robert Camara & Tolbert Nyenswah
The Ebola virus outbreak in 2013 revealed that health delivery systems in western Africa were not well-equipped to handle such epidemics. This paper argues that robust community health worker programs should be implemented as a strategy for improving global health responses to disasters such as the Ebola outbreak. Because CHWs have built strong relationships with the communities they serve, they are able to navigate many of the cultural and societal factors that resulted in Ebola’s persistence. Important lessons can be learned from the 2013-2016 Ebola outbreak, particularly about the CHW’s role in mitigating these factors to lessen the force of future outbreaks.
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Resource Topic: CHW Role, Infectious/communicable diseases, Scale-up
Resource Type: Journal articles
Year: 2016
Region: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
Country:
Publisher May Restrict Access: No