The Second International Symposium on Community Health Workers (CHWs) was recently held from 22nd to 24th November 2019 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This year’s symposium was organised by International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, based in Bangladesh was attended by more than 500 delegates including researchers, policy makers, funders, implementers, health practitioners and academics from 35 countries.
At the symposium, Makerere University was recognised for organising and hosting the first symposium in Kampala in 2017 under the School of Public Health in partnership with Nottingham Trent University (UK) and the Ministry of Health. The first symposium, which led to these events being held globally every 2 years, was attended by over 450 participants from 22 countries.
Officiating at the opening ceremony of the symposium, Dr. David Musoke, a Lecturer in the Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health at the School of Public Health, Makerere University and also Co-Chair of the CHWs Thematic Working Group of Health Systems Global, said he was pleased that the efforts of Makerere in conceptualising and organising the maiden symposium had made a significant contribution to the work of CHWs globally.
He added that this cadre of human resources for health is crucial in primary health care and public health particularly in low- and middle-income countries like Uganda hence deserve to be recognised and supported better for the attainment of Universal Health Coverage.
Other staff of Makerere University in attendance were Prof. Elizeus Rutebemberwa and Richard Ssempala who all made oral presentations further showcasing outputs from Uganda.
The third symposium will be held in 2021, and many countries have expressed interest in hosting it, following in the footsteps of Uganda and Bangladesh.
