Role of village health worker in control activities for malaria elimination efforts: A systematic review

BACKGROUND: Malaria elimination efforts are expensive and often challenging because they are usually located in the hard-to-reach areas. Malaria elimination efforts can be greatly enhanced through the involvement of village health workers (VHWs). This systematic review aimed to study the role of VHWs in malaria elimination programs in hard-to-reach areas.

METHODS: A systematic review was conducted in five life sciences databases including PubMed, Web of Sciences, Scopus, ProQuest, and Medline, and Google. They were searched from their inception to October 2024 for studies reporting the roles of VHW in malaria elimination activities.

RESULTS: Of 14,884 articles screened, 44 articles met the inclusion criteria. Nearly 65.9 % (29) of the studies were from Africa and the rest were from Asia. Thirty-seven studies were from the hard-to-reach areas. The hard-to-reach areas included villages (18/44), hard-to-reach villages (2/44), rural areas (7/44), one study each on border areas, border forested areas, and refugee and conflict areas. VHWs were mostly involved in diagnosis and treatment of malaria (21/44), three studies on behaviour change communication and reactive case detection, four on prevention using long-lasting insecticidal nets and intermittent preventive treatment of children, two studies each on seasonal malaria chemoprevention, health education, and intermittent preventive treatment in children.

CONCLUSION: VHWs engaged in a number of malaria control activities in a hard-to-reach areas. They were primarily involved in routine control of malaria and were not regularly engaged in malaria elimination activities. As more countries are pursuing the national goal of malaria elimination, VHWs should be integrated into the elimination program.