Dear friends and colleagues with an interest in primary health care and community health:
My last communication with you was on April 27. I am pleased to share with you some information that I hope will be of interest.
For 5 decades now, I have been inspired by the work of Raj and Mabelle Arole at the Jamkhed <https://www.crhpindia.org/> Comprehensive Rural Health Project in Jamkhed, Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra, India, and their classic 1994 book <https://www.amazon.com/s?k=jamkhed+a+comprehensive+rural+health+project&... on community health and primary health care. I have “rediscovered” an amazing 45-minute video made in 1980 by the British Broadcasting System about their work. This was made when Raj and Mabelle were in their prime. I encourage you to watch this by clicking here <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z-u8mnNzQ_indvH-i-rOPTUb_peamtsx/view>.
Beginning at 5 minutes and 23 seconds into the video, we hear the remarkable comments from them:
Mabelle:
“What medical science is today is actually a pool of the experiences of many people. It is a common pool of knowledge, and I do not think that this pool of knowledge should belong to one particular set of people – that is the doctor. I do not think that doctors should have a monopoly of that and then make use of this common pool of knowledge to make money for themselves.”
Rajanikant:
“What we want to do is make this self-knowledge available to everybody and in doing so create new manpower [that] will be able to understand these things in a simple way and apply this knowledge to the people on a massive scale. Because few doctors and few health professionals scattered here and there will not do. The main element that is necessary in taking this knowledge is not a technical ritual of giving a pill or an injection. It is transforming people’s thinking. It is giving education to the people. And education can best be given to the people who share the culture of the people, who share the life of the people – and that means the local village people.”
Today this remarkable work continues under the leadership of their children, Dr. Shobha and Ravi Arole. The attached article (Perry and Rhode 2019) [*] provides a sense of the importance of their contributions to global community health. I had the privilege of visiting them a year ago – my 4th visit!
Thanks to the pioneering work of the Aroles and others, the community health worker movement is gaining real steam and momentum. The Community Health Impact Coalition<https://joinchic.org/> (CHIC), led by Rhodes Scholar Dr. Madeleine Ballard, is now a leading advocacy group for the professionalization of CHWs. CHIC has given voice to CHWs, enabling them to speak at important events. CHW Central<https://chwcentral.org/>, led by an amazing group of volunteers including Rebecca Furth, is THE leading hub of information for and about CHWs.
One of the CHWs who is now a leading voice for the movement is Margaret Odera, a CHW from Kenya. Svea Closser invited her to share the Dean’s Lecture. This lecture was given in recognition of Svea’s promotion to Professor in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The entire lecture, available here<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_dh1Y12sS8>, is an inspiration for all of us who want to see community health work lifted up.
Professor Closser, an anthropologist, has been engaged for decades now on grassroots work with CHWs. She and her team recently published an important article in which CHWs in Pakistan were given “voice” - the opportunity to propose policy improvements for their work. Their article is attached.
Finally, let me invite you to the annual Workshop on Community-Based Primary Health Care sponsored by the Working Group on CBPHC of the International Health Section of the American Public Health Associate, to be held on the day prior to the opening of the APHA Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday, October 1.
The Community-Based Primary Health Care Working Group is hosting a one-day workshop on Saturday, October 31, 2026 in San Antonio — Health Systems That Reach and Follow: Community-Based Primary Health Care in an Era of Mobility, Misinformation, and Digital Innovation. It runs 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM Central, just ahead of the APHA Annual Meeting.
The day covers how mobility and displacement break continuity of care, how misinformation shapes trust and vaccine decisions, and what role digital tools and AI actually play in supporting community health workers.
You don't need an APHA membership or a conference ticket to attend. Early-bird is $27.45, $20 for students.
Students, community health workers, and new professionals: abstracts are due September 20 for a chance to present a poster, and scholarships are available for accepted presenters.
Register: EVENTBRITE LINK<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/apha-2026-community-based-primary-health-ca... Submit an abstract: ABSTRACT FORM LINK<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdOpBSXQhJyGxDCpae_x-jTMo2Bkumd...
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Warm regards,
Henry
Henry B. Perry, MD, PhD, MPH
Senior Associate, Health Systems Program
Department of International Health
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Baltimore, MD, USA 21205
Hperry2@jhu.edu<mailto:Hperry2@jhu.edu>; 443-797-5202
HIFA profile: Henry Perry is a Senior Scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA. Professional interests: Community health and primary health care. hperry2 AT jhu.edu
[*HIFA does not carry attachments]