Developing countries face an acute shortage of skilled health care workers, and consequently health education and training, especially for community health workers, needs to be a top priority.

The High-Level Taskforce on Innovative Financing estimates that, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals for health, developing countries need an additional
2.6 million to 3.5 million health workers, who must be trained with limited budgets.
Quality training and continuing education for community health workers is essential, as it is linked to improved health outcomes. For example, Save the Children estimates that training and support to midwives to provide a package of eight proven interventions could prevent 38% of newborn deaths, thus saving 1.3 million babies each year. A training programme for community health workers in Bangladesh reduced maternal mortality by two-thirds, which would correspond 120,000
fewer maternal deaths per year if replicated globally.

Page 6 - Report for mHealthEd 2011 at the Mobile Health Summit June 2011

 

“a generation ago, few would have dreamed that mobile technology would create five billion points of contact around the world or that nine out of 10 internet users in subsaharan africa would access the internet through mobile devices. they could not have imagined how innovative technologies such as skype, facebook, and african-born solutions like m-Pesa would transform spheres of business, politics, and society. what if these same, disruptive technologies could be applied to transform global health for the next generation? ”

Report for mHealthEd 2012 at the Mobile Health Summit June 2012