PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ballard, Madeleine
AU  - Bancroft, Emily
AU  - Nesbit, Josh
AU  - Johnson, Ari
AU  - Holeman, Isaac
AU  - Foth, Jennifer
AU  - Rogers, Debbie
AU  - Yang, Jane
AU  - Nardella, James
AU  - Olsen, Helen
AU  - Raghavan, Mallika
AU  - Panjabi, Raj
AU  - Alban, Rebecca
AU  - Malaba, Serah
AU  - Christiansen, Molly
AU  - Rapp, Stephanie
AU  - Schechter, Jennifer
AU  - Aylward, Patrick
AU  - Rogers, Ash
AU  - Sebisaho, Jacques
AU  - Ako, Clarise
AU  - Choudhury, Nandini
AU  - Westgate, Carey
AU  - Mbeya, Julius
AU  - Schwarz, Ryan
AU  - Bonds, Matthew H
AU  - Adamjee, Rehan
AU  - Bishop, Julia
AU  - Yembrick, Amanda
AU  - Flood, David
AU  - McLaughlin, Meg
AU  - Palazuelos, Daniel
TI  - Prioritising the role of community health workers in the COVID-19 response
AID  - 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002550
DP  - 2020 Jun 01
TA  - BMJ Global Health
PG  - e002550
VI  - 5
IP  - 6
4099  - http://gh.bmj.com/content/5/6/e002550.short
4100  - http://gh.bmj.com/content/5/6/e002550.full
SO  - BMJ Global Health2020 Jun 01; 5
AB  - COVID-19 disproportionately affects the poor and vulnerable. Community health workers are poised to play a pivotal role in fighting the pandemic, especially in countries with less resilient health systems. Drawing from practitioner expertise across four WHO regions, this article outlines the targeted actions needed at different stages of the pandemic to achieve the following goals: (1) PROTECT healthcare workers, (2) INTERRUPT the virus, (3) MAINTAIN existing healthcare services while surging their capacity, and (4) SHIELD the most vulnerable from socioeconomic shocks. While decisive action must be taken now to blunt the impact of the pandemic in countries likely to be hit the hardest, many of the investments in the supply chain, compensation, dedicated supervision, continuous training and performance management necessary for rapid community response in a pandemic are the same as those required to achieve universal healthcare and prevent the next epidemic.