Since the launching of the Primary He~lthrnCare Program in Ethiopia, 6 717 Community HealthrnAqents (CHAs) and 6107 Traditional Birth Attendantsrn(TBAs) have been selected by their localrncommuniti es and trained by the Ministry of Health .rnThen they were sent back to their respective l ocalitiesrnand expected to perform disease pr evention,rnhealth promotion and rehabilitation services .rnIn Sidamo F.cministrative Region, 436 CHAs andrn632 TEAs have been trained. Out of these , 118 CHAsrnand 236 TEAs are found in Sidama Awraja (province ).rnThus to flnd out hOI'} effectively they are being usedrn20 peasant associations vhich have both CHAs and TBAsrnwere studied .rnOut of the total number of CHAs and TBAs t hatrnwere trained in the r e g ion, only 117 (2 6 . 8% ) of thernCHAs and 242 (38 . 3% ) of the TEAs were found workingrnin the entire region. Similarly 34 (28.8%) of thernCHAs and 117 ( 49 . 6% ) of the TEAs were found workingrnin Sidama Awra j a .rnThe CHAs who were working, with the exception ofrnWacho, were found t o have a problem with recordingrnpreventive activities performed in their local ities.rnOver 90% of the TEAs ~}ere not able to identifyrnthe most common signs ofrnous signs of pregnancy.rnpregnancy and the dangerInrnadd ition , only two ofrnt he TEAs mentio ned that they ,Jashed their handsrnbefore touching the woman during labor. Only onernTEA mentioned the importance of sunshine . Onernstated how she managed a retained placenta and nonernof them mentioned anything about child spacing .rnIt is therefore, suggested that a strongrnnational policy for training and support for thernuse of CHAs and TEAs be formulated.rnviii