Community health workers—known as health extension workers in Ethiopia—have teamed up with motorbike riders to dramatic effort in Ethiopia’s Sidama Zone, finding double the number of people with tuberculosis (TB) compared to a previous period and increasing their chances of survival.
The project, funded by the Stop TB Partnership’s TB REACH initiative and implemented by the Southern Region Health Bureau and the Liverpool school of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) in collaboration with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and the Global Fund, engaged with some 1100 health and community workers to bring TB diagnosis, treatment and information materials to rural areas that previously had limited access to healthcare services. Working with motorbike riders, who play a supervisory role, the community health extension workers formed a bridge between these rural communities and far away healthcare centers. For more Click here