Join us on 18 May 2022 from 12:30 - 14:00 CET for the high level launch of the Roadmap for strengthening the public health and emergency workforce.
About the Roadmap
The COVID-19 pandemic and previous public health emergencies have exposed health system weaknesses around the world. Many countries have struggled to deliver essential public health functions - the most cost-effective, comprehensive and sustainable way to enhance people's health and reduce the burden of disease.
The public health workforce is at the heart of this effort. Yet, the essential role and impact of the workforce involved in delivering these functions has been overlooked. This has led to disparities within and across countries and regions, and fragmented approaches to public health workforce development in terms of policies, planning, implementation, and monitoring. Health workforce challenges have been a critical barrier to maintaining essential health services and delivering COVID-19 response activities.
Building from the consensus in the Italian G20 in 2021, WHO and many of the world’s leading public health organizations and schools have collaborated to develop a roadmap for strengthening the public health and emergency workforce. The roadmap offers a unique opportunity for Member States and regional and global bodies to join forces and adopt a coherent approach to the development and management of this critically needed category of workers. In particular, the roadmap focuses around three critical action areas:
- Defining the essential public health functions and sub-functions for national contexts, including a focus on emergency preparedness and response
- Strengthening competency-based education for the provision of the essential public health functions
- Mapping and measurement of occupations delivering public health functions
The roadmap is developed with, and for, countries including key stakeholders such as associations of national public health institutes and schools. It proposes a differentiated and progressive approach for countries acknowledging varying capacities and contexts. Across the action areas, this will aid countries to benchmark themselves and assess their current situation; facilitate provision of guidance and tools; and support progress to full implementation towards a strengthened public health workforce delivering all essential public health functions for universal health coverage, health security and improved health and wellbeing.
Provisional agenda
| Introduction and background | Jim Campbell, Director, WHO Health Workforce |
| Opening remarks | Dr Socé Fall, Assistant Director-General, WHO Health Emergencies |
| Presentation of roadmap | Speakers Mehreen Hunter, College of Public Health Medicine of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CPHM(CMSA)) Fatai Ogunlayi, Faculty of Public Health, UK (FPH) |
| Moderated high level panel discussion | Moderator: Duncan Selbie, International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI)
Panelists Dale Fisher, Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) Laura Magaña, Global Network for Academic Public Health (GNAPH) Flavia Senkubuge, Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA) Neil Squires, United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) |
| Structured question and answer session | Moderator John Middleton, Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER) |
| Round up of discussions, closing remarks and way forward | Speaker: Jim Campbell, WHO |
Audience
All with an interest in strengthening the public health workforce and delivery of essential public health functions at national, regional, and global levels.
Objectives
The aim of the webinar is to promote the implementation of the Roadmap. Specific objectives are to:
- Launch the roadmap and inform national, regional, and global stakeholders of the tools and resources available for countries to make progress across the three action areas.
- Facilitate high-level discussion, advocacy and engagement with Member States, relevant partners (including development partners), and other national stakeholders to develop a shared approach and joint commitment to put the roadmap in action.
- Engage Member States, public health institutions, schools, faculty, students, and professionals in identifying opportunities for national implementation.