The AHOP Ethiopia National Centre in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health organised a policy dialogue on “Optimizing the Ethiopian Health Extension Program: strategies to address workforce challenges”. This meeting was conducted ahead of the release of an AHOP policy brief from the National Centre on the same topic.
Ethiopia’s Health Extension Program (HEP) serves as a flagship program in the delivery of primary health care in the country, relying on the mobilization of specially trained health extension workers to provide community-based health services. The country has developed a 15-year optimization roadmap for HEP. However, it is crucial to address the challenges faced by the health extension workers for the success of the roadmap. The dialogue brought together experts and policymakers from across Ethiopia to deliberate on evidence-based policy solutions to these challenges.
The policy dialogue began with presentations on the evidence on the challenges faced by health extension workers, such as low remuneration, inadequate supervision and limited access to in-service training opportunities. This was followed by discussions between participants to identify policy options to address these issues. Specifically, the dialogue focused on three key questions:
- What can be learnt from previous policy responses to salary levels and incentives?
- What changes to training and supervision can improve competency and productivity?
- What structural changes to education, and career progression can lead to improved retention and satisfaction?
As well as representatives from Ethiopia’s regional health offices, in attendance were participants from the International Institute of Primary Health Care-Ethiopia, WHO, Ethiopian Policy Studies Institute (EPSI), USAIDEthiopia, and Ethiopian Public Health Association (EPHA).
Find the policy dialogue report here.
