Impact of the expansion of the health surveillance assistants programme in Nkhatabay District of North Malawi

Abstract

This study investigated the challenges facing a category of community health workers (Health Surveillance Assistants) in rural Malawi district of Nkhatabay following the expansion of their programme funding from the Global Funding to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM). The study has noted that HSAs are facing serious accommodation problems due to the lack of involvement of communities in their selection and that many HSAs are recruited from outside their catchment areas. The study has put forward some recommendations to the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders like United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to consider in making the HSAs programme in Nkhatabay district effective. Some of the recommendations made are that supervision of the HSAs by the EHOs and the ECHNs should be intensified and that infrastructure support should be provided to the HSAs for them to be able to deliver the EHP. Infrastructure like buildings and equipment like refrigerators and bicycles should be provided to HSAs and ensure that there is a plan for their maintenance.