Good health involves more than just physical well-being. For a person to be truly healthy, he must also experience emotional well-being and intellectual growth. To this end, CTT attempts to deal with many aspects of health. In almost 40 countries, over 300 groups use the CTT strategy, to train local people to meet the health needs of their neighbors.
CTT is a multifaceted, community-based, development strategy that deals with the whole man---physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Our training teams train local community health workers how to meet their basic health needs. The community health workers then put into practice what they have learned in their own lives and share this with 20 to 30 neighboring families.
Historically, most of the available medical personnel and funds in the developing world have been committed to hospitals, which provide curative care for only 5 percent to 10 percent of the population. In most of the third world countries, 80 percent of the health professionals are found in cities, while 80 percent of the people live in rural areas. The majority of the clinics and hospitals are also in the cities.
The best medical care is preventing disease before it occurs. Curative medicine seeks to cure existing diseases rather than preventing diseases. Furthermore, it is expensive and not available to the majority of the people, especially those in rural areas and villages. It is like a fireman waiting to put out a fire when there are ways and means of prevention available. Therefore, CTT places its greatest emphasis on prevention, which involves community development.
Although most diseases are preventable through health education and immunizations, we also train community health workers to recognize basic diseases and treat them in the home. As an example, in Africa, worms can be treated with pawpaw milk. In addition, community health workers are taught how to recognize the signs and conditions severe enough to need treatment at the hospital.
The most poorly nourished people are women and small children. Sometimes people are not growing the right crops to keep the family well-nourished. Teaching people to grow vegetables and how to properly prepare them helps women and children be protected from diseases that take the lives of the malnourished. The "3 x 3 lesson plan" is an easy way to remember what foods to eat. People are encouraged to eat at every meal: (1) an energy food---like potatoes or bread; (2) a body building food---like beef or fish, and (3) a protective food---like oranges or pineapples.
Sanitation can be a problem in poorly constructed houses especially when access to water is limited. A crucial factor for health is to train people to build pit latrines and keep clean homes. Some villages have no running water, so people walk three to four kilometers to draw water from a dirty river. Community health workers teach people how to find a clean source of water and then teach them how to protect it. They also teach ways to purify water.
Through CTT, we desire to help the greatest number of people by training community health workers. The CTT approach includes the following characteristics:
