Speakers at symposium on Friday termed the community clinic as an epitome for other developing countries, reaching the primary health care to the doorsteps of the rural population and serving 50 million rural people of Bangladesh. They applauded the ‘community clinic’, as the brain child of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, setting an example for others to follow.
They were participating in the three-day seminar on 2nd International symposium on Community Health Workers at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka. Professor Dr Syed Modasser Ali, Chairman of Community Clinic Health Support Trust, MoHFW, Bangladesh inaugurated the seminar.
icddr,b in collaboration with the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of Bangladesh; BRAC James P. Grant School of Public Health (JPGSPH) and Save the Children, Bangladesh organised the symposium. In his speech, Syed Modasser Ali said community health workers have an outstanding history of providing vaccination, essential health service package and family planning services in Bangladesh.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Iqbal Anwar, Scientist and Project Director, SHARE Project, Health Systems and Population Studies Division at icddr,b gave the welcome speech, while the keynote speech titled “Primary Health Care 2.0: from Alma-Ata to Astana” was presented by Dr Rory Nefdt, Senior Advisor, UNICEF, USA.
The symposium have received unprecedented interest from participants around the world. Approximately 500 participants from 35 countries registered, comprising of policymakers, health professionals, public health experts, academicians, representatives from government and non-government organisations, and researchers. Among others, Dr Seharla Abdulahi, State Minister of Health-Operation, Ethiopia also participated in the symposium.
Sudebi Gusswami, CHCP, Dhamrai, Dhaka; Dr David Musoke, Co-Chair of the Health Systems Global Thematic Working Group on CHWs, Uganda; Dr John D Clemens, Executive Director at icddr,b; Professor Dr Sabina Faiz Rashid, Dean & Professor, JPGSPH; Judith Herbertson, Country Representative, DFID Bangladesh; Hans Lambrecht, First Secretary & Team Leader, Education and Human Development, EU Delegation to Bangladesh; and Professor Dr Nasima Sultana, Additional Director General (Admin), DGHS, MoHFW, Bangladesh also spoke in the inauguration.
A total of 232 abstracts have been received of which 141 were selected for oral and poster presentation. 20 young participants from LMICs were selected for scholarship based on the merit of their abstract. The Dhaka Symposium provides the divers group of participants a common platform to discuss the successes and challenges of the CHWs, and to find better strategic pathways to help communities adequately address the challenges posed by NCDs. This will eventually help achieve UHC and Sustainable Development Goal 3 targets.
This year’s theme is ‘Potentials of Community Health Workers in Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the Context of Universal Health Coverage (UHC)’. Globally, NCDs kill 41 million people each year, which is equivalent to 71% of all deaths. Each year, 15 million people die from a NCD between the ages of 30 and 69 years; over 85% of these ‘premature’ deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). It also perpetuates poverty while hindering economic development in these countries.
The symposium theme further expanded into four subthemes – CHWs programmes in low- and middle-income countries; CHWs and Universal Health Coverage; CHWs in special situation such as urban healthcare, disaster and climate change and humanitarian context; and CHWs programmes and prevention and control of NCDs.
Over the last 100 years, CHWs have been successfully working on key areas such as birth and death registration, vaccination, providing basic healthcare, education, and counselling services. Their efforts have helped governments of LMICs to significantly tackle communicable disease-related mortality. However, the recent rapid shift in disease burden has compelled global public health experts to re-think how best CHWs can be utilised in detection, screening and treatment of NCDs, as well as palliative care. Evidence shows that interventions from CHWs could lead to less emergency department visits and less hospitalization, thus reducing the healthcare costs.
The symposium is also supported by the USAID, European Union, UKaid, MSH, Vital Strategies, BRAC, UNICEF, UNFPA, and WHO. In 2017, the 1st International Symposium on CHWs was held in Kampala, Uganda and showcased the contribution of the CHW programmes across different areas of health to Sustainable Development Goals.
