Senegal ministry of health plans reform to professionalize community health workers

The Senegal Ministry of Health is launching a reform to professionalize over 48,000 community health workers across the country.

Dr. Khalidou Ba, a public health specialist, identified significant structural and financial flaws in the national community health policy established in 2013. He noted that current community actors lack official status, career plans, regular pay, and social protection.

The system also relies heavily on external funding rather than a dedicated national budget, which complicates coordination among different partners and limits the integration of community work into national health data. To address these issues, the ministry plans to revise the regulatory and legal framework to clarify the roles and responsibilities of these workers. The reform will provide community actors with certified training and diplomas, which will grant them access to fixed salaries, career paths, and social security coverage.

This initiative aims to create a more resilient and equitable healthcare system for the population. The ministry will implement these changes gradually, starting with pilot regions before expanding the program nationwide. The project has a planned budget of 37.8 billion CFA francs over five years, which averages to approximately 7.5 billion CFA francs per year.