Liberia: MOH Announces 3rd Int’l Community Health Worker Symposium
The government of Liberia is poised to host the third International Community Health Worker Program (CHW) Symposium in Monrovia. Around 600 delegates from 40 nations representing every continent are anticipated at the event.
The African Center for Disease Control, development partners, community health champions, community health workers, researchers, and foreign missions accredited to Liberia are among the organizations represented by the delegates, the Minister of Health, Dr. Wilhelmina S. Jallah, revealed at a press conference on Tuesday, January 17.
The EJS Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, Monrovia, will host the weeklong symposium from March 20–24 with the theme “Advancing Community Health Worker Programs to Build Resilient and Equitable Health Systems that Accelerate Primary Care for Universal Health Coverage.”
Key among the issues discussed during the symposium will be healthcare financing and business models, as well as ensuring that policies governing community health workers are upgraded to meet global best practices, the minister said.
Minister Jallah said, “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 on-going global conversation around pandemic preparedness and response, the previous two CHW Symposia (Uganda 2017 and Bangladesh 2019), and the institutionalizing of Community Health Conferences (ICHC 2017 and 2021).”
According to her, 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.
She said there will be two-day pre-conference activities centred on country engagement, creating the space for experience sharing and collaborations amongst the Community Health Roadmap Countries, the Global Fund NFM4 application engagement, and any partner who may want to have pre-conference meetings or workshops.
Minister Jallah indicated 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.
She, however, disclosed that during the symposium, there will be an opening ceremony and plenary session 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.
Minister Jallah maintained, “The event will climax with a closing ceremony followed by an awards night honoring key stakeholders and community health workers from Liberia and other countries.”
She told journalists that with the collaboration and cooperation of the Ministry of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance and 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 on March 20–24, 2023.”
Minister Jallah also used the medium as government to express her profound gratitude to all health partners, especially to Health System Global, USAID, the Global Fund, World Bank, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, Last Mile Health, IRC, UNICEF, CHAL, Partners in Health and the Community Health Road Map for all your initial financial and technical support to this event.
The health minister further concluded by thanking Golden Touch Corporation (GTC) for working closely with them in planning this auspicious event.