Care for sick children in the community

Coverage of interventions to help children survive and thrive is often lowest where the needs are greatest. This means that many newborns and children, especially in low- and middle-income countries, still do not have access to curative or preventive health care. Recognizing that services need to be brought closer to home, a simplified version of IMCI was developed to be used by lay community health workers.

In this process, also known as "Community Case Management" (CCM) the community health worker:

• identifies and refers children with danger signs to a health facility;
• treats (or refers) pneumonia, diarrhoea and fever;
• identifies and refers children with severe malnutrition;
• refers children with other problems that need medical attention; and advises on home care for all sick children.

The selected interventions require the availability and use of four simple medicines: an antibiotic (usually amoxicillin), an antimalarial, oral rehydration salts (ORS) and zinc tablets.

Families are on the front line of care for their children, and they also need supportive skills, encouragement and confidence to care for their children.