Africa needs 1.2 million more Community Health Workers (CHWs) to achieve a target population ratio of 2 CHWs per 1,000 citizens. Geographically stretched and under-resourced CHW programmes leave volunteers lacking regular supervision, transport, and basic diagnostic tools. As a result, critical services such as disease surveillance, antenatal follow-up, and routine immunizations face manpower and material shortages.
Future Africa Forum’s latest report, Hope on the Horizon: A Case for Youth Community Health Workers in Africa presents a bold vision: integrating Youth Community Health Workers (YCHWs) into national healthcare systems to bridge urgent workforce gaps and unlock youth potential.