In Ethiopia, the USAID/UHEP Urban Health Extension Program built on the success of the Rural Health Extension Program by deploying Urban Health Extension Professionals to improve access and equity to person-centered health services in urban settings. These Urban Health Extension Professionals are health workers who hold clinical and nursing diplomas.1 The program works to strengthen and expand the capacity of Urban Health Professionals, to identify and extend “household-centered” promotive, preventive, and curative services to at-risk populations, provide health and support services with strong referral networks, and assess social and individual risk factors in their catchment areas.2 Like Iran’s urban CHW model, Urban Health Professionals have close links to households and communities, giving these frontline workers the opportunity to deliver person-centered integrated services.
Learn even more about Community Health Workers in Ethiopia on the Exemplars in Global Health webpage.