Community Health Workers: Skills to Be Harnessed for the Well-Being of Rural Populations Through the PAC-CI Program’s PROXISANTE Project.

As part of the “PROXISANTE Project: Community Health Workers (CHWs). Strengthening a Community-Based Strategy in Rural Areas” that a delegation from the PAC-CI Program, led by its Executive Director, Dr. Moh, visited the Lacs District from February 26 to 28, 2024. The delegation met with administrative authorities, the Departmental Director, community leaders from the towns of Toumodi, Djékanou, Kpouebo, and Kokoumbo, and the Community Health Workers (CHWs).

The main objective of the PROXISANTE project is to develop and implement strategies aimed at improving the integration of HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis prevention and care into the community-level health system through Community Health Workers.

Prior to the meeting, the team—which also included Dr. Bangali, the project leader, and Dr. Msellati—paid visits to the administrative authorities in Toumodi, Djékanou, and Kpouebo, the localities where the project was carried out. The main purpose of these visits was to pay courtesy calls on the prefectural authorities and present the terms of reference for the debriefing meeting.

During the meeting, discussions among the various participants focused on presenting the results of the activities, assessing the achievement of the study’s objectives, and highlighting the strengths and challenges of implementation in preparation for a future national rollout.

Group photo of the prefectural staff, the PAC-CI Program delegation, the Community Health Workers (CHWs), and members of the NGO EPE

In addition to the results of the activities presented by the Lacs District, the Community Health Workers (CHWs), and the coordinator of the NGO EPE, project beneficiaries also shared testimonials about the positive impacts on their daily lives. Overall, this project was very well received by the communities in these localities, which facilitated home-based care provided by the Community Health Workers (CHWs). In fact, they were not only able to provide HIV counseling and testing but also enabled the early treatment of many cases of malaria in children through the PROXISANTE project, thereby preventing severe malaria. However, there is still work to be done in the fight against tuberculosis in these communities, as Dr. Bangali noted.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, the Regional Prefect expressed his satisfaction with the results presented. He encouraged the Departmental Director of Health to make use of the ASCs, given the skills they have acquired in the field.

Far from ending with these satisfactory results, the next steps in this project will focus on capitalizing on the project’s outcomes and reporting back to national authorities and partners.

Finally, it is worth noting that healthcare needs in Côte d’Ivoire—specifically in decentralized areas—are significant, but the supply of care remains insufficient. That is why, according to Dr. Bangali, this type of initiative is an opportunity for the PAC-CI Program, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Public Health and Universal Health Coverage (MSHPCMU), to put the results of the studies conducted by the Program into practice and to develop further studies on other topics in these areas.