5 Lessons from Top Global Experts on How to Support the Health Workforce

By Carol Bales, Advocacy and policy communications manager, IntraHealth International ; Elizabeth Walsh, Director of communications and knowledge management, HRH2030October 26, 2020Before COVID-19, the world was facing a shortage of 18 million health workers by 2030, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. By September of this year, one in seven reported cases of COVID-19 were health workers and at least 7,000 health workers had died—likely significant underestimates due to lack of data.Although the true burden of COVID-19 infections on the health workforce is unknown, the loss of health workers from COVID-19 will have widespread health impacts, says Dr. Tom Frieden, president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, and former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And in low- and middle-income countries especially, the pandemic is already diminishing access to essential health services, and threatening to reverse decades of progress in global health.“Deaths in Africa from health care disruption are likely to far exceed deaths from COVID-19,” Frieden says. Here are five steps he and other global experts shared during a virtual event alongside the 75th United Nations General Assembly for how countries, donors, and others can better protect and support our most precious resource—frontline health workers:1. Make national policies and investments in safety“COVID-19 is here to stay...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Family Planning & Reproductive Health COVID-19 Digital Health Education Performance Policy Advocacy Health Workers Community Health Workers Source Type: news