Community Health Agents Training Program

Training, equipping, and requalifying frontline health workers across Cabo Delgado

In rural Cabo Delgado, where 76% of the province’s population lives, distance from health facilities can mean the difference between treatment and no treatment at all. Community Health Agents (CHA) are the system’s answer to last-mile service delivery, bridging underserved communities and the formal health system through basic clinical care, health education, and timely referral.

The province has an estimated workforce gap of more than 700 CHS. The World Health Organization notes that community health agents have been critical to major reductions in maternal and child mortality over the past two decades. As agents also gather community-level data, the program supports better tracking of health progress over time.

Sources: Provincial Directorate of Health, Cabo Delgado; Ministry of Health (MISAU), Community Health Subsystem Strategy (2022); WHO.

The program supports the Provincial Directorate of Health on two tracks. First, the training and equipping of 200 new community health agents (APS), recruited from localities across 14 of Cabo Delgado’s 17 districts, now trained and deployed. Second, the requalification of existing elementary health agents (APE) into full APS, expanding and upgrading the frontline workforce. Beyond health, the program is also a youth opportunity: the agents trained are 27 years old on average, ranging from 19 to 35.

14 dos 17 distritos ᭼ Concluído

Two hundred new community health agents were trained and deployed across 14 of Cabo Delgado’s 17 districts, in localities rated as highly vulnerable. Acting as the first point of access to essential health care, they focus on disease prevention, maternal and child health, and health and nutrition education.

Cabo Delgado

Building on the 2025 APS deployment, the program will requalify existing elementary health agents (APE) into full community health agents (APS), upgrading the skills and status of frontline workers already embedded in their communities.