By: G Bennie Bravo Johnson
The government of Liberia, through the Ministry of Health and its community health services division, in conjunction with the Africa Center for Disease Control and Community Health Initiatives, will today, March 20, 2023, host the 3rd International Community Health Workers Symposium.
The hosting of the 3rd International Community Health Workers Symposium is the reward of Liberia’s June 29, 2020, bid to the Health System Global (HSG) Community Health Workers summit.
The symposium, which is held under the theme “Advancing Community Health Worker Programs to Build Resilient and Equitable Health Systems that Accelerate Primary Health Care for Universal Health Coverage”, will be ongoing at the EJS Inter-Ministerial Complex, continuing from March 20–24, 2023, with two days’ of pre-conference and three days of main event activities.
The symposium is held every two years with the intention of providing an opportunity for advocacy for the host country and other nations for investment into its Community Health Program and the health system in general. It also seeks to provide the needed technical assistance to some member states to expand Community Health Programs on the continent.”
Speaking Sunday, March 19, 2023, at the EJS Ministerial Complex, the minister of health, Dr. Willimina Jallah, provided that the conference will bring together 40 different countries from every region of the world with 700 delegates, including high-level government officials from other nations, some UN agencies, the Africa Center for Disease Control, development partners, community health champions, community health workers, researchers, and foreign missions accredited to Liberia.
“This 3rd International CHW Symposium is critical and will be built on the Astana Declaration (2019), the African Union’s call for 2 million community health workers (2020), the ongoing global conversation around pandemic preparedness and response, the previous two CHW Symposia (Uganda 2017 and Bangladesh 2019), and the institutionalizing Community Health Conferences (ICHC 2017 and 2021).
Participation in the symposium will be through a hybrid method; many of the participants will be by invitation while a considerable number of others will be by abstract applications.”
As part of activities leading to the symposium, the Minister revealed that there will be two-day pre-conference activities centered around country engagement to create the space for experience sharing and collaborations amongst the Community Health Roadmap Countries, the Global Fund NFM4 application engagement, and any partners who may want to have pre-conference meetings.
The minister added that the approach to the main event will be guided by a global agenda that focuses on global best practices exchange, community health financing, CHW program institutionalization, and emerging evidence and innovations.
Dr. Jallah reaffirmed that the opening ceremony and plenary session of the 3rd International CHW Symposium are going to be followed by a series of corresponding sessions of presentations, panel discussions, and plenaries, as well as marketplaces for poster presentations, institution engagement, sponsorship, and sales by accredited local vendors.
Further stating that the event will be climaxed with a closing ceremony followed by an awards night for honoring key stakeholders and community health workers from Liberia and other countries.
Meanwhile, the minister added that ensuring activities for the world event have all been set in place through the relevant ministries and agencies of government will ensure that Liberia continues to show its readiness for hosting international programs.
“With the collaboration and cooperation of the Ministry of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Development Planning, Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism, General Services Agency, Liberia National Police, and Liberia Immigration Services, and all supporting partners, we are confident to host the 3rd International CHW Symposium.” Dr. Jallah noted
Dr. Jallah expressed his appreciation to the international health partners for awarding Liberia the bid to host the 3rd International Community Health Workers Symposium.
“We want to use this time and medium as a government to express our profound gratitude to all of our health partners, especially Health System Global, USAID, the Global Fund, the World Bank, the Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation, Last Mile Health, IRC, UNICEF, CHAL, Partner in Health, and the Community Health Road Map, for all your initial financial and technical support to this event. We also would like to thank the Golden Touch Corporation (GTC) for working closely with us in planning this auspicious event.”
