A World in Need ...

Recently the need for the training and deployment of more community  health workers across the globe has become more apparent.

There seems to be the need for more community health workers [CHW] especially in the continent of Africa, and more in the Sub-Saharan subcontinent.

The crumbling health systems and failing policies have become obvious for all to see.
The Ebola epidemic exposed the fragility of the African health systems to a very large extent.

Talk of rebuilding the African health systems has been ongoing since early 2015, especially after the world was able to get a grip on the Ebola crisis.
Different players have come on the scene and more countries, for example China and the US have continued to pledge their support in this rebuilding process.

At a meeting recently held in Ghana in June of 2015, Public health leaders, businesses and organizations came to discuss the strategic roles of community health workers in the pursuit of the attainment of universal coverage of health.
The general consensus was to speed up the training of CHWs and provide adequate support structures for them at National and International levels to help this process.

"We have reviewed the national experiences and the scholarly evidence demonstrating that CHW systems are a critical, integral, cost-effective, and long-term part of effective overall health systems. CHWs save lives, promote public health and wellbeing, bridge health system gaps, improve the quality of life, and help to prevent and end epidemics like Ebola. 
As members of the communities they serve, CHWs are the health workers closest to households. CHW systems offer high-quality, meaningful employment for young people."  

Strengthening our CHW systems has been found to be key in the achievement of health for all.

Resources Nationally and Internationally need to be pooled and targeted at equipping at least 1 million community health workers to serve in Subsaharan Africa.

The Key to The rebuilding of Africa's health systems may very well be embedded in the 1 million CHW campaign!

Our World is indeed in need of community health workers.