Building an NCD-ready workforce: technical meeting report, Geneva, Switzerland, 3–4 June 2021

Overview

Achieving global targets to reduce premature mortality from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and to expand universal health coverage (UHC) is unlikely to occur unless deliberate actions are taken to strengthen the health and care workforce to be “NCD-ready.” To set a strategic vision for these actions, a Strategic Roundtable on building an NCD-ready workforce was convened on 3–4 June, 2021. The Roundtable brought together public health and workforce experts from national ministries of health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners to discuss key principles of workforce optimization through strengthening competencies, workforce planning, engaging communities and providers for the provision of NCD care, and sharing country experiences. The meeting participants reviewed a draft Pathway for meaningful support for countries to build an NCD-ready workforce across key thematic areas.

The Roundtable explored key aspects of the paradigm shift needed to prompt urgent action on multiple fronts to:

• meet the global demand for health workers to deliver NCD care through population-based planning and policy making;
• build the capacities of existing and future health and multisectoral workers in critical competencies needed for NCD prevention and care;
• recognize and empower communities as providers of NCD care to lessen the burden and dependence on the health system;
• Engage workers and people living with NCDs as champion providers of NCD care.

During the meeting, a series of presentations was followed by a rapid round of discussions. This allowed for the engagement of a broad group of stakeholders, including representatives from professional associations, nongovernmental organizations and academia. Participants raised key issues about strengthening engagements with other health professionals to address NCDs, in particular highlighting the role of pharmacists as trusted professionals with opportunity to expand their scope of work in NCD prevention and care. The lens of optimization was applied to discuss the continuum of education, lifelong learning and employment, with discussion around the health system reinforcements needed to achieve the intended impact. Mechanisms for community involvement were highlighted, including the roles that individuals in the global workforce can play by transforming their personal NCD status into a source of positive change.