By Yvonne Arunga, Save the Children Country Director, Kenya and Madagascar

Kenya’s adoption of a community based approach for the provision of health care service to citizens’ places emphasis on prevention of disease by promoting prevention at individual and community level. Kenya’s Community Health Strategy aims to provide basic prevention and care services at the community level through Community Health Workers (CHWs).

A CHW is a member of the community selected to serve in a community health unit. CHWs deliver key health messages to households; support their registration; treat common ailments and minor injuries; screen, treat, manage and make referrals of common childhood illnesses such as diarrhea, malaria, malnutrition and pneumonia. CHWs make home visits to determine the health situation and engage with households on how to recognize health danger signs to make prompt referrals to health facilities.

In some of Kenya’s hardest to reach populations, CHWs bring critical health services to children and mothers. In these communities, the presence of CHWs has significantly reduced the morbidity and mortality of children under five years old. Evidence has shown that home visits by CHWs during pregnancy and in the first week after birth can make a significant difference in reducing neonatal mortality. The adoption of community health services increases antenatal visits, exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of a child’s life and uptake of immunization. All of these going a long way in giving children a great start in life.

Community Health Programmes despite their high return on investment remain seriously underfunded. Save the Children in partnership with the county departments of health in Turkana, Mandera, Wajir, Bungoma and Nairobi has supported the development of community service bills, trained CHWs and innovated pathways to CHWs retention. The role that CHWs play, especially in underserved communities, cannot be emphasized enough.

The establishment of key policies and legal frameworks that recognizes the importance of CHWs together with the necessary funding for training, supplies and compensation for CHWs will support the goal of promoting community health. The political goodwill already exists, what is now needed is the implementation of the community health services bill and an increased budgetary allocation for community health programmes and within this a consideration for CHW compensation.