Day one of the regional broad-based consultative meeting for inputs into the draft Health Financing Strategy for the Community Health Worker Programme, with a focus on immunisation, commenced today in Bo District. This work is being commissioned by GAVI through Mannion Daniels implemented by the Financing Alliance for health.
The meeting brought together national, district, and community-level stakeholders to review and provide inputs into the draft strategy, with particular attention to the role of Community Health Workers in immunisation promotion, zero-dose identification, defaulter tracing, community mobilisation, referral, reporting, and linkage between communities and health facilities.
The consultation forms part of the broader process to ensure that the strategy is informed by field realities, district-level implementation experience, and the perspectives of frontline actors who are directly involved in community health and immunisation service delivery.
Day one demonstrated strong interest and commitment from both national and district stakeholders. The broad participation reflected the importance of ensuring that the CHW Health Financing Strategy is developed through an inclusive and consultative process.
Key observations included:
- There is strong recognition of the role of CHWs in improving immunisation outcomes.
- District-level actors have valuable insights that will inform the final strategy.
- Sustainable financing remains a major concern for the continuity and effectiveness of the CHW programme.
- Strengthening supervision, reporting, transport, and motivation will be important for improving CHW performance.
- Community ownership and local authority engagement are essential for successful implementation.
- The strategy should clearly reflect district realities and provide practical financing options that can be implemented over time.
