COVID-19: Community health workers key as complacency sets in

Dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic could get more challenging as more lockdown restrictions get lifted in Uganda, according to health experts.

On Monday, the government announced the relaxation of more COVID-19 restrictions, allowing mass gatherings for prayers, weddings, political rallies, and meetings, and increasing the permitted number of attendees from 70 to 200.

The executive director of Community Health and Information Network and Chairperson of the Uganda Alliance of Patients Organisations Regina Kamoga has said community health workers should be put at the center of COVID-19 response now that complacency has set in and control measures including lockdown being eased.

"At the community level, there is a lot of misinformation and complacency with many people believing COVID-19 does not exist," said Kamoga during a WHO online press briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.

"Also worrying is that the community health workers (Village Health Team) don't have adequate knowledge and understanding of the virus, which has encouraged misinformation and complacency," she added.

Kamoga's remarks come in the wake of the launch of the National Community Engagement (CES) Strategy for COVID-19 in Kampala last month in which the Chairperson CES Prof. Francis Omaswa said the government is in the process of recruiting 87,000 community health workers to provide community-based surveillance and help fight the disease.

Kamoga said to consolidate the fight against COVID-19 as control measures get eased, efforts must be undertaken by the government to build the capacity of community health workers (Village Health Team).

"Community health workers should be part of the COVID-19 response health team with an allocation of funds because their work is important."

"Train, give right information, and incentives to them, so that they do what needs to be done to contain the virus," she said

Kamoga explained that community health workers need to be facilitated, to go long distances, motivated, and supported to work.

"Recruiting without tools, support, and incentives will not yield the required results yet they are crucial in this fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," said Kamoga.

She said community health workers are trusted and important in demystifying myths.

"They are a vital part in reducing transmission through promoting social distancing and contact tracing, detecting and referring individuals with suspected COVID-9 to test, isolate if positive, and seek care," she said.

The WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr Matshidiso Moeti, said using Community Health Workers to engage communities, helps people know the disease better, and understand their own role as individuals, as family, working with governments and other stakeholders to contain COVID-19.




"What we need to do more is listen to people, to know how are they dealing with the pandemic, what they feel, are they tired of observing the control measures, and what help they need."

"This helps to find means of sustaining efforts to fight the disease especially now that lockdown is getting eased. Individual caution is important in stopping transmission of the virus," she added.

Uganda registered its first case of COVID-19 on March 21, 2020. As of November 12, there were 15,217 registered cases of COVID-19 in the country, 7,985 recoveries, and 143 deaths.

According to the Minister of Health Dr Ruth Aceng Uganda is in phase four of the pandemic characterized by mass community infections with limited capacity to trace their contacts.