Comparing the roles of community health workers for malaria control and elimination in Cambodia and Tanzania

Abstract

The reduction of deaths from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is stalling, whereas many countries in Southeast Asia are approaching malaria elimination. We reviewed the role of community health worker (CHW) programmes in malaria control and elimination between regions, with a more detailed description of the programmes in Tanzania and Cambodia. Compared with Tanzania, Cambodia has a much more developed CHW network, which has been pivotal in the near elimination of malaria. In Tanzania, the malaria burden has remained similar over the last decade and treatment continues to rely on healthcare facilities, which provide more limited access to early diagnosis and treatment. Overall, the proportion of malaria cases treated by CHWs is substantially lower in SSA than in Southeast Asia. Even though networks of CHWs are resource intensive and malaria epidemiology differs substantially between countries, there is a strong case for expanding CHW networks in rural SSA to improve early access to effective malaria treatment and reduce the malaria burden.