Geneva, 28 May - Investing in the health and social workforce is critical to the attainment of the health Sustainable Development Goals. Around eighty percent of the investment required to achieve universal health coverage by 2030 is for the education and employment of health personnel. However, the WHO projects a shortfall of 18 million health workers to accelerate universal health coverage by 2030, particularly in low- and lower-middle income countries.
Recognizing the critical role that health worker organizations and youth play in the health labour market, the World Health Organization launched a call to action campaign (17 April – 18 May 2019) for healthcare professional associations and youth organizations seeking bold actions to address the health workforce shortfall at country level.
A total of 45 complete submissions were received, 35 of which were selected for publication. Contributions received were individual or joint actions that have impact at country, regional or international level.
On the margins of the World Health Assembly, a meeting on Addressing the Shortfall of 18 million Health Workers, co-organized by the World Health Organization and International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) was held on 21 May 2019. It convened international health professional associations, health worker unions, youth organizations, professional alliances and member states together to discuss successful health workforce models and actions to address the shortfall of 18 million health workers. A total number of 31 organizations attended the meeting, of which 18 represented healthcare professional associations. The meeting resulted in 6 key messages on the actions needed to address the 18 million health worker shortfall.
A technical briefing: Investing in Jobs was held on 23 May 2019, which shared evidence of what works and built a new consensus on how to strengthen the future partnership role of health worker organizations with Member States on investing in jobs and Health for All. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was appointed as the WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Health Workforce, spoke during the briefing as well. The 6 key messages that resulted from the meeting prior to the technical briefing were presented during the briefing and shared with the attendees.