Introduction
In 1978, world leaders created the Declaration of AlmaAta,
which reaffirmed access to health as a fundamental
human right and identified primary health care as the
key to the attainment of the goal of health for all. The
30th anniversary of Alma-Ata coincided with the halfway
mark of the United Nations’ Millennium Development
Goals, stimulating discussion about the role of primary
health care in facilitating the achievement of those goals
and led to revitalized calls for use of community health
workers (CHWs) as a form of community participation
[1]. CHWs help individuals and groups in their own
communities access health and social services and educate
them about various health issues [2]. Many studies
have documented the advantages of CHW programmes
[3-7], including that such programmes can enhance
community participation [8,9].