On June 6, 2024, Last Mile Health and the International Institute for Primary Health Care – Ethiopia (IPHC-E) hosted “Non-communicable diseases: The next frontier for community health workers.” This webinar explored the vast potential for professional community health workers to provide non-communicable disease care in communities around the world, with case studies from Ethiopia and Nepal.
Non-communicable diseases are a growing threat for patients around the world. Professional community health workers can play an important role in reducing premature deaths by implementing effective interventions including risk prevention, early detection, screening, and treatment, as well as providing palliative care. Critically, they deliver care to rural and remote communities where these services would otherwise remain out of reach.
In Ethiopia, where non-communicable diseases have become the leading cause of death, the Ministry of Health and Last Mile Health developed a blended learning training (combining digital and in-person elements) to equip community health workers and their supervisors with the knowledge and skills needed to deliver non-communicable disease prevention and control measures.
A community health worker provides a blood pressure screening for a patient.
Dr. Tibebu Benyam, a leader on Last Mile Health’s Ethiopia team, presented on the initial impact of the training and plans to scale. He joined a distinguished panel of speakers, including:
- Dr. Yoseph Mamo, Country Director, Tropic Health and Education Trust
- Dr. Patrice Matchaba, CEO, Gates Medical Research Institute; Board Member, Last Mile Health
- Dr. Yoko Inagaki, Assistant Scientist, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Dr. Addis Tamire, Senior Director, Integrated Health Systems Strengthening, Amref Health Africa
“Non-communicable diseases are now the frontline for community health workers and I saw that in action in Ethiopia.” – Dr. Patrice Matchaba
WATCH THE FULL RECORDING:
