Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Monday that “The world must take urgent action to protect and invest in health workers in all countries,” This came in a press release announcing the launch of the Fifth Global Forum on Human Resources for Health from April 3-5 2023 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Forum, the largest gathering of health workforce professionals, health policymakers and multi-sectoral partners is focusing on the theme of Protecting, safeguarding, and investing in the health and care workforce.
Ghebreyesus urged for increased investment in health workforce education and jobs saying that this requires “political leadership across all sectors, not just health”, and adding, “Health workers need decent pay and working conditions,” Jim Campbell, Director of the Health Workforce Department state, “If we want equity and universal health coverage, if we want global health security, we must protect health workers. We must invest in them, and we must take action together,” As the halfway point to the Sustainable Development Goals approaches, and three years since the COVID-19 pandemic began, population health outcomes and life expectancy are in reverse.
Health systems are dependent on health worker availability, accessibility and quality, yet chronic shortages of health workers, underinvestment in their education and training, as well as low salaries and mismatch between education and employment strategies are leading to major challenges.
The pandemic placed a heavy toll: the latest figures show that an estimated 50 per cent of health and care workers, who already felt overworked and undervalued before COVID-19, experienced burnout from the huge additional burdens placed upon them.
WHO is recommending that all countries increase the graduation of health personnel to reach 8-12 per cent of the active workforce per annum, to maintain and improve capacity in relation to population needs and health system demands.
The Forum will also feature work led by the WHO African Regional Office together with Member States and regional partners in the development of the African Health Workforce Investment Charter aiming to halve inequities in access to health workers; especially in those African countries identified as having the greatest shortages.
The outcomes of the Forum will inform the United Nations General Assembly’s High-Level Meetings on Universal Health Coverage and Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response scheduled in September 2023.
The Forum is attended by over 2000 delegates with most joining online and close to 200 participating in person.
It is taking place during the World Health Worker Week campaign, and just ahead of World Health Day, which this year marks WHO’s 75th birthday on 7 April, 2023.
Source: Kuwait News Agency