Region Nine gets 61 new Community Health Workers

The Health Ministry in collaboration with the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region
Nine, trained 61 persons to serve as Community Health Workers (CHW) in the region.
The initiative is part of government’s plan to improve primary health care services in the
hinterland regions. At the graduation ceremony held Sunday at the Indigenous People’s
Conference Hall, Lethem, Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, said there has always been a
challenge in getting health workers to serve in the interior regions. As such, he said that
government made the decision to ensure the regions are adequately staffed with health officers.
“One of the biggest challenges that we have had was to find people to work at these levels. And
even after all these years, we still find it challenging… We have a health hut there, we have a
health post there, but we don’t have anybody working there and that’s unacceptable…so, we
have taken a decision that we are going to try especially in the interior of our country, to make
sure that we have adequate personnel to start staffing the facilities that we have built,” Dr,
Anthony explained.

The health minister appealed to the graduating class to use the knowledge they gained to better
serve their communities. Dr Anthony noted that in order to promote primary health care, they
will be required to recognise health conditions in the early stages and be able to treat those
conditions or make referrals for patients to receive higher health care services. “So, when you
return to your community, the expectation is that you will serve that community well. You are
going to provide what we have trained you- to detect some of these conditions, health conditions
and then if you cannot manage them there, then you at least would be able to recognise the health
conditions and refer that person upwards so that they will be able to get the care,” he said.
The health minister stressed that while congratulating the 2021 batch, they must be constantly
learning to improve and grow in the health profession, as there will always be something new to
discover.

Meanwhile, Regional Health Officer, Dr. Cerdel McWatt stressed that the CHWs will be the
most qualified batch to ever serve the region. “I can assure the people of Region Nine will
benefit from the most qualified group of CHWs that was ever trained thus far… And remember
that you should be a servant of people …” he declared.
Regional Chairman, Mr. Bryan Allicock also attended the graduation ceremony.