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Nigeria, partners push for 2m community health workers by 2030
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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
African governments and development partners have called for increased domestic investment, improved remuneration and formal recognition of community health workers as the continent steps up efforts to deploy two million workers by 2030.
They made the call at the beginning of a three-day high-level forum on community health workers in Abuja on Wednesday, where speakers warned that Africa’s ambition to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) would remain difficult without a properly trained, equipped and sustainably financed community health workforce.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, said Africa had approximately 1.36 million community health workers as of May 2026, still short of its two-million target.
He said only 68 per cent of African Union member states formally recognised community health workers as part of their national health workforce, while only about half paid them through government budget lines.
According to him, 85 per cent of countries still relied on donors for at least half of their community health worker financing.
Salako said estimates indicated that about $4.3 billion annually would be required to support the workforce, with an estimated $19 in economic and social returns for every dollar invested.
He disclosed that Nigeria had approximately 83,000 community health workers and was strengthening primary healthcare through the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, national workforce planning and efforts to improve domestic financing.
He urged participating countries to leave Abuja with costed implementation plans, measurable commitments and financing arrangements that could be incorporated into national budgets.
The minister also called on development partners to align assistance with national priorities, use country systems and provide predictable, long-term support without replacing governments’ own financial responsibilities.
Representing member states, Dr Richard Kabanda of Uganda’s health promotion sector stressed that community health workers were critical to immunisation, maternal and child health, non-communicable disease screening and community outreach.
He called for their formal integration into national health workforce frameworks, alongside common training standards, effective management systems and continental policies to improve service delivery.
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A UNICEF representative, Helga Fogstad, said community health workers should be treated as the first point of contact in healthcare, rather than the last mile of service delivery.
She emphasised fair remuneration, supportive supervision, essential commodities, digital tools, career progression and stronger community ownership, and also pledged continued support for integrating the workers into national health plans, budgets and monitoring frameworks.
Juliet Odogwu of Africa Frontline First (AFF), representing its champion, former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, reaffirmed its commitment to the African Union’s two-million target and the professionalisation of 200,000 community health workers by 2030 in partnership with Africa CDC.
The organisation said more than 100,000 workers had been formalised since 2023 through government and development partnerships, while urging countries to develop investment cases and sustainable financing plans.
The head of delegation of the Red Cross/Red Crescent, Dr Asha Mohammed, highlighted the role of community volunteers in detecting health threats early, communicating risks and supporting communities during emergencies.
She urged governments to integrate community-based workers into national health systems and strengthen trust between health authorities and communities.
Amref Health Africa, working with the Mastercard Foundation, presented findings from research involving about 155 community health workers and young people across five African countries.
Its representative, Mieko Mckay, cited delayed salaries, limited career progression and inadequate institutional support as factors undermining retention. “In Malawi, some health surveillance assistants reportedly experienced salary delays of up to three months,” she said.
The representative stressed that recruiting workers was not enough without creating conditions that would encourage them to remain in service.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Africa Centre for Disease Control (Africa CDC), represented by Prof Aliko Baba Ahmed, highlighted the need to strengthen Africa’s health architecture, improve preparedness, mobilise predictable domestic financing, expand digital health systems and support local production of medicines and vaccines.
He warned against excessive donor dependence, saying health sovereignty required African ownership and stronger domestic investment, alongside equitable international partnerships.
The meeting is expected to produce an Abuja roadmap and commitments aimed at accelerating progress towards universal health coverage across the continent.
