Selected highlights: WHO guideline on health policy and system support to optimize community health worker programmes

Overview

Despite the wide recognition and the substantial evidence of their positive potential, the support for CHWs and their integration into health systems and communities are uneven across and within countries. Good-practice examples are not necessarily replicated, and policy options for which there is greater evidence of effectiveness are not adopted uniformly. Conversely, successful delivery of services through CHWs requires evidence-based models for education, deployment and management of these health workers.

This document presents selected highlights of the guideline, which aims to assist national governments and national and international partners to improve the design, implementation, performance and evaluation of CHW programmes, contributing to the progressive realization of universal health coverage.

This guideline is focused primarily on CHWs (as defined by the International Labour Organization through its International Standard Classification of Occupations), but its relevance and applicability also include other types of community-based health workers. The recommendations of this guideline are of relevance to health systems of countries at all levels of socioeconomic development.