IntraHealth International contributed to a new report published last week by the Frontline Health Workers Coalition, A Commitment for Community Health Workers: Improving Data for Decision-Making. The report finds that countries’ ability to deal with pressing health challenges like HIV/AIDS and maternal and newborn survival will be strengthened by creating a common definition of community health workers and a core set of skills and competencies. These standards will help nations ensure community health workers are optimally trained, supported, and deployed to provide high-quality care and treatment when and where it is needed most.

According to the World Health Organization, at least 7.2 million additional doctors, nurses, and midwives are currently needed to provide adequate access to essential health services. Without reliable data, global leaders are unable to determine how community health workers can help to fill the shortage. Many countries do not know the number of community health workers deployed or their geographic location. And without a common definition and understanding of expected tasks, countries cannot determine the right mix of skills across their health workforces. The report recommends developing a minimum data set for community health workers and entering this information into national registries that integrate with national human resources information systems.

To establish global consensus, the report recommends health workforce leaders look to the International Labour Organization’s definition of community health workers and recommended set of core tasks and the 2013 Harmonization Framework, which calls for collaboration among various stakeholders.

Evidence suggests countries that have effectively and systematically integrated community health workers into their national health systems have made significant gains toward the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including improvements in maternal health, reductions in newborn mortality, and rolling back diseases such as HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria.

“We know how to prevent mothers and children from dying and how to drive down infectious disease pandemics like HIV/AIDS and malaria. But we cannot do any of these things without a well-trained, supported, and effectively deployed health workforce,” said Julia Bluestone of Jhpiego, chair of the Frontline Health Workers Coalition. “Good data and rational integration of community health workers is key to unlocking this potential. Better data and integration of these workers will allow countries to more effectively deploy their entire health workforce for maximum impact on saving lives.”

“We can create better managed health facilities and systems with well-trained and supported health workers,” said Michael Bzdak, Coalition member and executive director of Corporate Contributions at Johnson & Johnson. “Responsible use of data and technology will help the Coalition achieve this by accelerating the adoption of proven practices. As we approach the establishment of goals in the post 2015-era, let’s take stock of the data we have and how we are using it to make decisions. We have a great opportunity to harness the power of data to support the global health workforce.”

The report was supported by Johnson & Johnson and endorsed by 17 Coalition members and partners. The Frontline Health Workers Coalition is an alliance of 38 US-based organizations advocating for greater and more strategic US investment in frontline health workers in developing countries as a cost-effective way to save lives and foster a healthier, safer, and more prosperous world. IntraHealth is a Coalition member and also houses the secretariat.