In 1978 the concept of Primary Health Care emerged from Alma Ata Conference as the means of reducing disparities in access to health care. Most countries adopted such concept to be the focus of their health systems. However the materialization of the three pillar principles of primary health care  namely community involvement, intersectoral collaboration and self reliance, proved  to be difficult.

Experience has shown that, whenever staff are involved in planning, services change to the better. This is one of the issues health sector reforms are emphasizing to facilitate  decentralization. The upgrading of management  skills at local level is viewed as the key step towards effective district health systems and decentralization.   

Community Health Management training aims at filling this gap , by providing an empowerment tool not only to health personnel but also to other sectors participating in the training.   CHM takes a practical, field based  and results -oriented approach to learning. Training is organized for district health teams, including members from the  community  and other sectors. The approach gets all team members to pull together their capital of knowledge and experience to perform the tasks required in each step of the learning process. It launches a process of team and self learning through action and monitoring of activities.

In brief Community Health Management training  empowers human resources, at community and district levels. It fosters team spirit and team work within the community and leads to  collective management of community health, thus contributing to the strengthening of district health systems.   

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