Inter-country demonstration training course on "Caring for the sick child in the community", Sana'a, Yemen, 21 - 26 March 2010

This course, jointly supported by WHO and UNICEF, aimed to expose participants not only to the classical training approach used in the global materials for community health workers (CHWs) on "Caring for the sick child in the community"—which much rely on reading as a key method for the learner to acquire knowledge—but also to other interactive, innovative training methods requiring minimal or no reading. The latter methods were developed by the Regional Office to better suit CHWs with limited literacy levels and no health background such as those targeted in countries in the Region, as recommended in the previous workshop in November. In that workshop, the participating countries had confirmed interest in increasing access to child care through CHWs as a means of reducing under-five mortality and thus contributing to achieving the related Millennium Development Goal (MDG) #4 and identified the need for adaptation of the WHO/UNICEF CHW training. The course held in Sana’a was also an opportunity to further discuss policy and strategy needs for CHWs, review and update the plans developed in the previous workshop and agree on the next steps. It was attended by 25 participants from 6 countries (Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen), including staff of ministries of health, academic institutions, development cooperation agencies and projects (JICA/Yemen and BASICS/Afghanistan), UNICEF country offices and WHO at all levels. The course content addressed the main causes of deaths in under-5 children, such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria and malnutrition. Key policy and strategic issues were reviewed and discussed to place training within a health system support context. Participants strongly recommended that the Regional Office should continue the development of a well-designed CHW training facilitator guide and related materials.