The Future of Global Health Starts with Health Workers

By Philippe Guinot, Chief operating officer (interim) and chief technical officer Ruth Uwibohoye, a health worker, cares for a child at Nyanza Hospital in Nyanza District, Rwanda. Ruth is supported by the IntraHealth International-led and USAID-funded Ingobyi project to reduce preventable infant and maternal deaths, reduce the incidence of malaria, and bring high-quality, integrated health services to more Rwandan mothers, children, and adolescents. Photo by Innocent Ishimwe for IntraHealth International.April 03, 2023In the global health community, we often focus on results and big numbers. How many people have we reached? How many screenings, tests, treatments? At times, we tend to forget that behind every result, every success, are human beings: health workers and the people they care for.When you’re sick, what you want is a health professional to take care of you, to approach your care as a human being, not as someone who is only interested in your disease.Adopting a people-centered approach is critical in the context of the evolving burden of disease. Historically, infectious disease required a single interaction between the health system and the patient; with chronic diseases there must be multiple interactions between the client and the health system, over long periods of time. More than ever, the relationship between the client and the health worker ought to be based on mutual trust.As such, health workers are the backbone of any health system, and they wi...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Global Forum on Human Resources for Health World Health Worker Week Source Type: news