Put pharmacists and other healthcare professionals in high-level positions, WHO forum told

Healthcare workers sustained physical and psychological damage during the COVID-19 pandemic because healthcare systems failed to protect them, a new report from the World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA) states. It urges governments to put healthcare professionals into high-level decision-making positions to ensure the needs of the healthcare workforce are met. The report was tabled at the World Health Organization's (WHO) fifth Global Forum on Human Resources for Health, being held in Geneva, Switzerland from April 3 to April 5. Key findings include: Healthcare systems must invest in mental health and psychosocial support for healthcare workers, both for those who need care as well as a means to reduce risk of poor mental health Training materials for vaccination need to include how to address vaccine hesitancy and vaccine rejections More efforts are needed to protect healthcare workers from violence in healthcare settings The WHPA report calls for “deliberate and immediate” engagement with healthcare workers at national planning and policy-making tables. The WHPA is made up of five international associations representing those working in the fields of pharmacy, nursing, dentistry, physiotherapy and medicine. In total, it represents 41 million healthcare professionals. “By pooling the data from surveys of their memberships conducted during the pandemic, the WHPA organizations have been able to put together a unique picture of what the pandemic looked like for health professionals on the ground,” WHPA chair Jonathon Kruger said in a press release. “By identifying the challenges we have in common across the professions, we can work together to resolve them.” Read: Pharmacy U presenter Zubin Austin: "Rage is all the rage: Dealing with conflict and hostility in practice" Putting more healthcare professionals in leadership roles could “counter the current disconnect between decision makers and health care professionals on the front line,” said Howard Catton, co-author of the report and CEO of the International Council of Nurses. Governments should honour the contributions of healthcare workers during the pandemic and and “elevate them to positions where they can more directly influence health care policies, and make sure that they never again have to face a deadly pandemic without the care, support and protection that they deserve,” Catton said in a press release. Catherine Duggan, CEO of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) spoke at the WHO forum on April 5. She said that governments must invest in and remunerate pharmacists and other healthcare professionals in order to manage global health needs. “For pharmacy, we need to be routinely recognised as integral to health care by health ministers and finance ministers alike so that access to medicines is safe and equitable for all,” she said. The outcomes of the WHO forums will inform another WHO meeting in June 2023 about health investment and a September 2023 meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on universal health coverage, according to FIP. The report, What the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed: the findings of five global health workforce professions, is available on the WHO website. Read: Full list of contraceptives now free to patients through new B.C. initiative

Put pharmacists and other healthcare professionals in high-level positions, WHO forum told

Register for free access or login.

Related Topics