Photo Caption: Community Health Worker from 1st cohort receives her training certificate.
By Jim Moore, Malaria Partners International Board Member 

Zambia’s Copperbelt Province is a little closer to providing 550,000 villagers in three districts with front line health care via community health workers, trained and equipped to apply integrated community case management to the scourge of malaria.  To date, 129 CHWs have been trained and deployed to the health centers closest to their home villages in Mufulira District for 6 – 10 weeks of supervised practice in diagnosis and treatment of malaria, diarrhea and respiratory illness.  By the beginning of September, they will be applying these skills in their home communities.

The next 132 trainees of the 387 CHWs needed in Mufulira District will receive their classroom and field instruction in four groups during the June 13 – 26 period.  Following a two-week break, the last groups will be trained and posted to health centers for their stint of supervised on-the-job practice.  At that point, Copperbelt 2 will be one-third complete, with 668 CHWs in Kalulushi and Luanshya Districts to go.