Community health workers - pioneers of health for all

It is not only the Covid-19 pandemic that has brought increasing worldwide awareness of the importance of community health workers (CHWs). As well as contributing to improving a population’s health, CHWs can also speed up the implementation of universal health coverage (UHC) around the globe. CHWs are not a new concept: they have long played an important role in the strengthening of many countries’ health systems. They were too often the only access to primary health care for many marginalised and vulnerable populations in remote and hard to reach areas. With the increasing global shortage of health professionals, as well as the current pandemic and the associated setbacks of many hard-won achievements in the healthcare sector, the deployment of CHWs is gaining a new momentum. But although millions of CHWs serve their communities, most of them do not receive adequate support from their governments. The articles in this MMS bulletin report on the challenges of gaining recognition for CHWs and draw attention to their mostly lawless and precarious situation worldwide.