Health Systems Strengthening

© Andrew Lim

Village Health Workers in eastern Burma provide vital community health prevention, education and treatment services.

In Burma, one in seven children die before they reach the age of five, and many of these deaths — due to diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria — are easily preventable. The challenge is to provide essential basic services to tens of thousands of villagers who have become nearly inaccessible due to civic conflict, displacement, and isolated and rugged jungle terrain.

Community Partners’ Village Health Worker program trains and equips hundreds of local health workers who provide a variety of interventions, ranging from basic hygiene and nutrition education to testing for and treating malaria. In Burma, these health workers are often the only source of health care in the community.

CPI also empowers our local partners by providing training and technical support for population-based health and human rights surveys, disease surveillance, epidemiology, and data collection and management. Our partners use this critical health information for program monitoring and evaluation, and to influence the international humanitarian, scientific and policy communities.

It takes a Village Health Worker: The Key to Healthy Communities

The Public Health Institute: Training the next generation of community health leaders