The Evolution and Contributions of Community Health Practitioners in Nigeria.

 


Community Health is not a second-rate profession in Nigeria. Rather, community health professionals are uniquely trained, academically qualified, and professionally licensed to practice as highly skilled health workers. Their scope of practice, guidelines, and limitations are well-defined.


And Yes, Community Health as a profession in Nigeria has recorded several landmark achievements since its formal inception in the 1970s with the establishment of the Community Health Practitioners Registration Board of Nigeria (CHPRBN) and the training of various cadres of community health workers. 


The establishment of the Community Health Practitioner Registration Board of Nigeria (CHPRBN) in 1992 (via Decree 61, now CAP C19 LFN 2004) gave legal backing to the training, registration, and regulation of Community Health Practitioners. This Formalization and Regulation of the Profession ensured professional recognition, standards, and ethics.


From the first community health training programs in the 1970s, Nigeria now has over 200 Colleges and Schools of Health Technology producing Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs), Community Health Officers (CHOs), and Junior Community Health Extension Workers (JCHEWs). This Expansion of Training Institutions Nationwide has widened access to skilled health manpower, especially in rural areas.


Community Health Practitioners are the backbone of Nigeria’s Primary Health Care (PHC) workforce. They staff health posts, health clinics, and many PHC centers nationwide, serving as the first point of contact for millions of Nigerians. They are fully integrated into the Primary Healthcare System.


They Reduce Maternal and Child Mortality through immunization campaigns, antenatal care, family planning, and safe delivery services. Community Health Practitioners have contributed significantly to reducing maternal and under-five mortality rates, especially in underserved areas.


Talk of The National Immunization Coverage, CHOs, CHEWs and JCHEWs played critical roles in Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) outreach and campaigns, including polio eradication efforts. Nigeria’s eventual wild polio-free certification in 2020 was partly due to their grassroots immunization work.


They have consistently provided health promotion and disease prevention education on malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, diarrheal diseases, and now non-communicable diseases. This Community-Based Health Education has improved health-seeking behavior in many communities.


In rural and hard to reach communities where doctors and nurses are scarce, Community Health Practitioners have bridged the gap by providing essential services, including minor treatments, deliveries, and referrals, under the task-shifting policy.


Also, they actively contribute to community-based health data collection, household surveys, and surveillance (e.g., for malaria, maternal health, HIV). Their grassroots presence ensures Nigeria has reliable health statistics for planning, and ultimately Contributing to National Health Surveys and Data Collection.


The Community Health Practitioners have been central to donor-driven health interventions like Roll Back Malaria, HIV/AIDS control, Tuberculosis DOTS programs, and more recently #COVID-19 community sensitization and vaccination campaigns. This is absolute Partnership in Global Health Programs.


The profession, through the ASSOCIATION OF REGISTERED COMMUNITY HEALTH PRACTITIONERS OF NIGERIA  (ACHPN), is growing into a strong national body advocating for improved welfare, recognition, and policies that strengthen PHC delivery in Nigeria.


My main point is that Community Health in Nigeria has evolved from a rural manpower intervention into a fully recognized profession that contributes directly to universal health coverage, maternal and child survival, immunization, health education, disease surveillance, and rural healthcare access.


Appreciate the Community Health Practitioners.


#communityhealthpractitionersarenotquacks


®Ahmed Salim Jn ✍️ RCHP 

#Uloko

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