Community health workers (CHWs) are uniquely placed to link communities with the health system, playing a role in improving the reach of health systems and bringing health services closer to hard-to-reach and marginalised groups. A systematic review was conducted to determine the extent of equity of CHW programmes and to identify intervention design factors which influence equity of health outcomes. The findings of the systematic review reveal that CHWs promote equitable access to health promotion, disease prevention and use of curative services at household level. However, care must be taken by to address factors which can influence the equity of services during planning and implementation of CHW programmes.