TY - JOUR T1 - The Critical Role and Evaluation of Community Mobilizers in Polio Eradication in Remote Settings in Africa and Asia JF - Global Health: Science and Practice JO - GLOB HEALTH SCI PRACT DO - 10.9745/GHSP-D-20-00024 AU - Judy Lewis AU - Karen LeBan AU - Roma Solomon AU - Filimona Bisrat AU - Samuel Usman AU - Ahmed Arale Y1 - 2020/08/03 UR - http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/early/2020/08/03/GHSP-D-20-00024.abstract N2 - Key FindingsData use, community engagement, local adaptation, linkage with the health system, and a strong community platform are critical for successful community programming.Community-based disease surveillance using local volunteers enhanced national and district efforts.Key ImplicationsProgram managers should consider using the Updated Program Functionality Matrix for Optimizing Community Health Programs of the Community Health Worker Assessment and Improvement Matrix (AIM) tool to develop, implement, and assess community health worker programs.Policy makers should support and strengthen strong community platforms in disease eradication programs that engage communities, promote local ownership, and use community-level workers.Emerging infectious diseases will require community engagement through local mobilizers to implement successful government prevention and response efforts.This article assesses the CORE Group Polio Project (CGPP) experience over a 20-year period in 5 countries. It examines how a program designed to provide social mobilization to eradicate one disease, and which did so effectively, functioned within the general framework of community health workers (CHWs). Vertical health programs often have limited impact on broader community health. CGPP has a 20-year history of social mobilization and effective program interventions. This history provided an opportunity to assess how CGPP community mobilizers (CMs) functioned in polio and maternal and child health. The Updated Program Functionality Matrix for Optimizing Community Health Programs tool of the CHW Assessment and Improvement Matrix (AIM) was used to examine CGPP CM roles across different contexts. The analysis determined that CGPP CMs met the basic level of functioning (level 3) for 6 of the 10 components of the AIM tool. This cross-country descriptive analysis of the CGPP demonstrates the importance of embracing the full range of CHW AIM components, even in a vertical program. Use of data, community involvement, local adaptation, and linkage with the health system are especially critical for success. This general lesson could be applied to other community mobilization and disease/epidemic control initiatives, especially as we face the issues of the COVID-19 pandemic. ER -