Community Health Workers for Universal Health Care Coverage: From Fragmentation to Synergy

This article—in a special issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization launched at the Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health—explores the important role of community health workers in the effort to achieve universal health coverage. A range of current challenges related to inconsistent support for community health workers and failure to integrate them into national health systems has limited their potential contributions to primary health care. The article emphasizes the need for stronger public-sector leadership and more synergy among partners in better supporting and integrating community health workers as integral members of health teams that can increase accessibility and use of services.