Achieving Universal Health Coverage in Zambia

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Community Health Workers (CHWs) – a diverse group of workers who receive different forms of training and remuneration – remain the frontline providers of care and advice in many parts of the world and are being called upon to implement new government interventions. This piece contextualises the work of these CHWs by examining the return of large-scale CHW programmes within the broader Universal Health Coverage agenda of the last decade. By focusing on the introduction of a large-scale CHW programme in rural Zambia, I consider what kind of coverage these programmes offer in practice and how they might change state accountability and citizenship.