WHO-HSG-HIFA Collaboration: Empowering Community Health Workers to accelerate progress towards Universal Health Coverage

WHO-HSG-HIFA Collaboration: Empowering Community Health Workers (CHWs) to accelerate progress towards Universal Health Coverage

HIFA is collaborating with WHO, Health Systems Global (CHW Thematic Working Group) and other key organisations (icddr,b, Frontline Health Project) on a series of three major HIFA thematic discussions on CHWs. These discussions will support the dissemination and uptake of the WHO Guideline on health policy and system support to optimize community health worker programmes (CHW Guideline), launched in October 2018. Over the coming 18 months we encourage dissemination on HIFA of all new research, reports, news, events and services relevant to CHWs, to maintain discussion throughout the period.

The first thematic discussion will start on 1 June 2019 and will focus on selection, training and certification of CHWs. The discussion will take place on the main HIFA (English) forum and also on HIFA-French, HIFA-Portuguese, HIFA-Spanish, and CHIFA (child health).

The work is led by the HIFA working group on Community Health Workers, The working group is open to new members. Contact us [neil@hifa.org] for details.

Join HIFA today and be ready to participate. 

The following questions are offered as a framework for discussion. However, we welcome and encourage contributions on any aspect of CHWs at any time forthe duration of this project.

• Q1. What are your thoughts on the Guideline? What questions do you have about it?
• Q2. Recommendation 1 suggests certain criteria to use and not to use for selection of CHWs. How do these criteria relate to current practice in your country/experience? Are these criteria implementable in your country/experience?
• Q3. Recommendations 2, 3 and 4 make suggestions on length of pre-service training, competency domains and modalities. How do these suggestions relate to current practice in your country/experience? Are they implementable in your country/experience?
• Q4. Recommendation 5 suggests using competency-based formal certification for CHWs who have successfully completed pre-service training. How does this suggestion relate to current practice in your country/experience? Is it implementable in your country/experience?

The new WHO Guideline: Health policy and system support to optimize community based health worker programmes is available here.