Our third event in the ECSA Health Community Health Economics Community of Practice webinar series, supported by WHO-AFRO and the Thanzi Programme, took place on 29 July 2025. The objective of this webinar, on Community Health Workers, was to understand approaches to shaping and integrating community health systems into formal healthcare delivery in Africa, and explore methods and emerging evidence to guide public health investments in community health systems.
The webinar highlighted analysis from the WHO African Region on a review of what is known about Community Health Worker (CHW) programmes in the African region, as well as current research from the Thanzi Programme that assesses the added value of integrating Village Health Teams (VHTs) and medicine retailers into the delivery of Uganda’s National Essential Health Care Package (UNEHCP). Importantly, we heard valuable insights and experiences from a Community Health Worker from Malawi who also has a role as a Disease Control Surveillance Assistant within the Ministry of Health.
Agenda:
- Community Health Worker Requirements to Accelerate Progress Towards Universal Health Coverage in Africa | Champion Nestai Nyoni (WHO Africa Regional Office)
- Redesigning National Health Service Delivery: The Case for Community-Based Providers in Uganda | Chrispus Mayora (Makerere University School of Public Health) & Megha Rao (Centre for Health Economics, University of York)
- Panellist viewpoint | Victor Zizwan Mchipha (Community Health Impact Coalition) & Emmanuel Odame (Consultant – West African Health Organization)
- Q&A session | moderated by Juliet Nabyonga-Orem (WHO Africa) & Edward Kataika (ECSA Health Community)
- Closing Remarks | Edward Kataika
You can watch the presentations and discussions by clicking ‘play’ in the video below, or view the video on the Thanzi Programme YouTube channel.
A summary of the questions posted during the Q&A session, and the responses from the panel, are shared in this Q&A document.
You may be interested in reviewing the following resource, which Victor Zizwan Mchipha (CHIC) has kindly signposted us to: Malawi MoH Health Surveillance Assistants Training Manual (via HCW Policy Lab).
The ECSA-HC Health Economics Community of Practice (HE-COP) is pleased to present this webinar series, in collaboration with WHO-AFRO and the Thanzi Programme, on pertinent topics related to health systems and resource allocation across the African continent. You can view our previous webinars on ‘Health Workforce Modelling’ and ‘Sustainability of HIV Programmes’ on the Thanzi Programme YouTube channel.
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By: Kath Devlin | July 2025
