1.1.5 Countries enabled to strengthen their health workforce

Scorecard

The output delivery team concluded that there was clear consistency in the scores of all major offices, with strong performance on responding to country needs for the COVID-19 response. Some major offices noted that partnerships with civil society and sectors beyond health should be strengthened.

WHO’s leadership role was demonstrated in evidence-based advice, data and knowledge generation and in norms and standards. It was agreed that the WHO Academy could amplify this role in the future.

Performance in delivering global public health goods was strong, although some delays in implementation were experienced due to the pandemic and a lack of resources. The output delivery team concluded that greater impact at country level will require a holistic approach to global public health goods that includes capacity-building.

Performance in ensuring gender rights, equity and human rights varied among the major offices. The output delivery team emphasized that the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of the health workforce is closely tied to human rights and equity, such as in the distribution and retention of health workers in rural and remote areas. Furthermore, disaggregated data from the National Health Workforce Accounts are used in policy-making and planning.

The output delivery team concluded that the pandemic has raised greater awareness of health and care workers and highlighted the need for increased investment to address persistent systemic challenges to building resilient health systems.

Achievements and challenges

In 2020, all major WHO offices provided guidance, tools and protocols to support countries in the COVID-19 response and to maintain essential health services. The support included guidance on infection prevention and control, interim guidance on human resource management and policy in the context of COVID-19, surveillance protocols for SARS-COV-2 infection among health workers and tools for detailed planning of surge deployment of health workers, such as Adaptt and Health Workforce Estimator Tools in the European Region.

All the regional offices have supported training of health workers in topics related to COVID-19, such as infection prevention and control, intensive care, risk management and personal protective equipment. Indicators of the impact of COVID-19 on health and care workers were developed for incorporation into national health workforce accounts for annual reporting by Member States. WHO also cooperated with the vaccine facility COVAX in managing and analysing data on the health workforce, such as workforce requirements for administering vaccinations.

Some activities in the operational plans were delayed by the COVID-19 response. The 2020  State of the World’s Nursing Report identified important gaps in the global nursing workforce and priority areas for investment in nursing education, jobs and leadership. WHO also published the Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List, 2020, which lists 47 countries that should be prioritized for health workforce and systems support and assured safeguards for active recruitment. 

In most regions, workforce surge capacity tools were developed for COVID-19. In the African Region, regional public health goods included a draft report on the Region’s health workforce and a report on nursing and midwifery.

In the European Region, the  Adaptt and  Health Workforce Estimator Tools were used to support countries both in the Region and in other regions in estimating the health workforce required for hospital intensive care from assumptions about the COVID-19 epidemiological situation 

In the Americas and South-East Asia regions, technical cooperation was provided to protect health-care workers and to build their capacity for the pandemic response. In the South-East Asia Region, this included infection prevention and control measures and sharing best practices on addressing mental health needs.

In the Western Pacific Region, support was provided to countries to strengthen health workforce capacity, including training to improve their ability to respond to COVID-19. Training in oxygen therapy, COVID-19 epidemiology, infection prevention and control and other topics was delivered in collaboration with experts in webinars. WHO surge-planning tools were also provided.

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic affected implementation of plans for the biennium, and country offices experienced staff turnover and/or reprioritization to COVID-19 response. Some assistance was provided remotely, and national technical resources were used.

The lessons learnt on policy and management during the COVID-19 pandemic should be used to ensure the availability of a more agile workforce for public health emergencies and protection of the working conditions and rights of health workers.