Community Health Workers
Robert Black and Henry Perry
Millions of poor and marginalized mothers and children in the developing world do not get basic health care because it is simply unavailable, too far away, or too expensive. This remains the primary reason why nearly 350,000 women die during pregnancy or childbirth and 8 million children younger than 5 years-old die every year from preventable or treatable causes. Nearly 4 million of these deaths occur among newborns less than one month old, which is roughly equivalent to the total number of babies born annually in the U.S.
In places like Afghanistan, which is ranked the toughest place to be a mother, according to Save the Children’s 2011 State of the World’s Mothers report, two of every five children are malnourished and one in five will die before their fifth birthday. Compare that to Norway – which is ranked as the best place to be a mother – where only one in 333 children die before age 5.
For a variety of reasons, in many parts of the world, pregnant women and young children will not receive lifesaving health care unless there is a female community health worker nearby to provide it. If we want to solve the interconnected problems of maternal and newborn and child mortality, we must do a better job of reaching these mothers and children with skilled care.
A growing body of evidence shows that community health workers (CHWs) can effectively reach the poorest, sickest children, with the potential to save millions of lives by providing care when and where it’s needed most. With initial training of six weeks or less, these workers may serve as volunteers or for modest incentives or salaries. They can be trained to distribute vitamin A capsules and other critical micronutrients; promote sanitation (hand washing, water treatment, safe water storage, latrine construction); distribute mosquito nets to prevent bites at night that spread malaria; diagnose and treat pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, newborn sepsis and severe malnutrition; and promote healthy behaviors such breastfeeding, appropriate care of newborns, and immunizations of mothers and children.
