Spotlight: One Million Community Health Workers Deployed, One Million to Go
It’s been eight years since African Union leaders committed to deploying two million community health workers (CHWs) by 2030. Today, Africa has reached a major milestone. Over one million CHWs have been trained and deployed across the continent.
This progress was revealed through the “Continental Survey on Community Health Worker Programmes”, led by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and UNICEF. The findings were shared in May on the sidelines of the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva.
CHWs are central to delivering health services where they are needed most. They support maternal and child health, immunisation, and the management of diseases like malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis. In many countries, their responsibilities are expanding to include non-communicable diseases and public health emergencies.
“We have 1,005,007 community health workers already deployed. That means we have achieved 50% of the target in just eight years,” said Dr Ngashi Ngongo, Principal Advisor to Africa CDC’s Director General. “What lies ahead is that, in the remaining five years, African Union Member States need to recruit, train and deploy the remaining one million.”
The survey drew responses from 51 of 55 African Union Member States. It paints a clearer picture of the scale, structure and scope of CHW programmes.
📥 Read the full brief in your preferred language:
👉 English PDF – Africa CDC Weekly Bulletin | 09 – 15 June 2025
👉 Version française – Bulletin Hebdomadaire d’Africa CDC | 09 – 15 June 2025
🔗 For direct inquiries or media engagement: communications@africacdc.org
