5000 rural health care workers to receive training
According to researchers, the CHWs in Tanzania have been part and parcel of the country’s health system since independence but their roles were not well recognized.
What you need to know:
Over 5000 village health workers across the country have been enrolled for formal training by the National Council for Technical Education (NACTE) in an effort to boost the quality of the rural health workforce.
Dar es Salaam. Over 5000 village health workers across the country have been enrolled for formal training by the National Council for Technical Education (NACTE) in an effort to boost the quality of the rural health workforce.
Popularly known as Community Health Workers (CHW), the lower cadre health personnel will be trained at 69 private and public health colleges in the country, according to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
The Director of Human Resource and Development, Dr Otilia Gowelle told health stakeholders at the ongoing Tanzania Health Summit in Dar es Salaam that the from next week, CHWs will begin the two-semester programme, where qualifying students will be trained over one year.
‘’The plan is to formalize the role of the community health workers and include them on the government’s salary scheme,’’ said Dr Gowelle.
She further told The Citizen on the sidelines of the summit that the government has developed a special curriculum which will enable village health workers to diagnose some health conditions in rural households, upon completion of the course. This will also improve the country’s health referral system, she added.
‘’The aim is to ensure that there are at least two CHWs in each village across the country. This is also part of the National Health Strategic Plan,’’ said Dr Gowelle in an interview with The Citizen.
