Local Leaders: Untapped Resources for Advancing Access to Primary Care
By Dr. Mariam Reda, Director, HRH2030/Chemonics
“There is a family with six children who were facing financial difficulties. I approached the husband and talked to him about family planning. He was hesitant at first, but now the wife is on Sayana Press. They recently stopped by my house to thank me for explaining to them the dangers of further pregnancies on the wife’s health and life,” recounts Paul Boyolo, a local leader at Bokito clinic in Bafia District of Cameroon.
This is just one of the activities Paul is accomplishing as part of his community family planning (FP) agenda to remove the barriers that impede women, men, girls, and boys from making informed and voluntary decisions about FP and their reproductive health.
Since October 2017, USAID’s HRH2030 (Human Resources for Health in 2030) program has been implementing the Local Leadership and Management approach which focuses on strengthening the capacity of local community leaders in Bafia District to bridge the gaps between FP providers and the community, and to encourage the development of local solutions to FP challenges. In Cameroon, the use of FP services remains low, with the 2011 Demographic and Health Survey documenting a contraceptive prevalence rate of 23.4% among married women currently using any method of contraception. HRH2030 worked with local stakeholders to identify the three most critical consequences stemming from a lack of knowledge about FP and limited access to high quality FP services: lack of birth spacing, unplanned pregnancies, and sexual precociousness.
Local leaders can provide a way to connect community members with the FP information they don’t have. These leaders are regular people from the community — carpenters, hairdressers, shop owners, religious figures, school teachers, wives, husbands, fathers, daughters — but because they are engrained into the cultural, social, economic, and religious weave of a community, their involvement or capacity building on health issues can have considerable impact on the wellbeing of their neighbors.
In the past nine months, the local leaders have already started to make a difference in the everyday practices and long-term life decisions of families. Empowering this community-based human resource has resulted in: 1) increased access to information and knowledge sharing through regular sensitization sessions; 2) strengthened community accountability and engagement in the local health system; 3) the bridging of communication gaps between health management teams and clients; and 4) an additional momentum within the community to advocate for better quality, accessible health services. These are integral components for achieving universal access to health care (UHC).
Community resources are not only essential for achieving accessible quality FP services but to ensuring primary health care services for all. Local leaders are an untapped resource for advancing access to primary care and UHC to ensure health systems are accessible and responsive to communities. Engaging local leaders in the formulation and implementation of health programs ensures optimized and effective use of resources.
As we work towards achieving UHC2030 let us consider how we might create systems to properly engage local leaders in a sustainable way to serve as strong bridges between health providers, clients, and the local community. Local leaders are untapped human resources for health that are readily available across the world! How can we empower or engage them in health matters to positively influence and inform their community members? The Local Leadership and Management approach is a promising one. Where can we take it next?
Check out this wonderful photo essay about Elisabeth, another local leader in the Bafia District, who is working to alleviate family planning challenges in her community.
