The evolving socio-political context of community health worker programmes in South Africa: Implications for historical analysis. A commentary on van Ginneken, Lewin and Berridge "the emergence of community health worker programmes in the late-apartheid era in South Africa: An historical analysis"(2010)

Abstract

This commentary discusses an article on the emergence and characteristics of community health worker (CHW) programs in the late-apartheid era in South Africa. It explains substantive issues and deficiencies in terms of: comparing socio-historical and socio-political periods romanticizing the CHW initiatives of the late-apartheid era concentration on CHW initiatives of the non-conventional type and current CHW practices. In addition it describes methodological issues and deficiencies with the historical analysis and the selection of respondents and programs.