Distinguished participants, friends and partners,
I congratulate the AAAH and supporting partners for organizing this series of webinars on addressing the challenges health workers face within and amid the COVID-19 response.
You have provided an invaluable platform for stakeholders to identify and share the lessons already learned in countries across the WHO South-East Asia, Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific regions.
Health workers are the backbone of health systems and are therefore the backbone of the COVID-19 response.
We must continue to strengthen their capacity to get the job done safely and efficiently.
Since 2014 achieving universal health coverage has been one of the South-East Asia Region’s Flagship Priorities, within which strengthening the health workforce has been a key point of focus.
In 2015 the Region embarked on its Decade for Health Workforce Strengthening, which aims to enhance the number and skills of health workers and to increase rural staff retention.
Over the past five years, the Region has achieved a 21% increase in the number of health workers, with most countries reaching the Millennium Development Goal threshold on health worker density.
The emergence and spread of COVID-19 has nevertheless underscored remaining gaps, the most pressing of which include maldistribution and ongoing shortages.
In our Region and across the world, COVID-19 has exerted immense pressure on the health workforce.
Health workers have had to rapidly upskill and task-shift.
They have worked unprecedented hours and battled mental stress and burnout.
Stigma and the verbal and physical violence it can bring have been an ugly reminder of the unacceptable danger medical professionals face in the line of duty and in the community.
And of course, health workers have faced an increased risk of COVID-19 infection.
Health workers account for less than 2% of the population in most low- and middle-income countries. They have nevertheless accounted for around 14% of COVID-19 cases reported to WHO, which has in some countries been as high as 35%.
To strengthen the response and save lives, these and other gaps must be rapidly addressed.
Doing so will not only help battle the virus, but also maintain the regular functioning of essential health services, which continues to be one of the Region’s strategic priorities, as reflected in its recently adopted Declaration on the Collective Response to COVID-19.
I am certain that the lessons learned in preceding webinars will be of great use to countries in the three participating WHO regions, as elsewhere, and take this opportunity to briefly summarize them.
In the first session, participants underscored the importance of a strong primary health workforce to mobilizing surge capacity.
In Singapore, Iran and the Indian state of Kerala, we heard how decision-makers tasked primary health workers with managing asymptomatic and mild cases of COVID-19, and then deployed a specialized workforce to manage severe cases and to provide surge support to tackle hot-spots and clusters.
Task-shifting through volunteers and non-medical staff continues to help health facilities efficiently allocate human resources, which has been vital to maintaining essential health services.
Notably, countries emphasized that mobilizing surge capacity is not only about numbers, but also building the capacity and skills of health workers.
We heard how countries from each WHO region have conducted key trainings on a range of subjects, from the correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE) to clinical practice guidelines.
In the South-East Asia Region alone, WHO has conducted more than 20 online trainings on the use of the WHO Adapt tool to forecast health worker needs during the pandemic, in addition to a host of other trainings on key areas such as contact tracing, clinical care and infection prevention and control.
Several countries, including Indonesia and Afghanistan, highlighted how decentralized and multisectoral decision-making facilitated rapid, efficient and coordinated responses.
From the second webinar, on the occupational risk of health workers, we gleaned several insights.
As I have already mentioned, health workers have experienced rates of infection that are significantly higher than the general population.
The overcoming of PPE shortages, which WHO helped to facilitate, has since reduced the risks health workers face, while the payment of incentives and compensation has helped to maintain motivation among health workers, as shared by Philippines and Thailand.
The mental stress health workers have contended with has been immense, but several countries have developed ways to help manage it.
In Qatar, where around 30% of health staff working on COVID-19 have reported moderate to severe mental distress, regular communication and information updates were shown to increase staff resilience.
In Japan, mobile communication with and between staff has shown benefits, in addition to the regular rotation of staff from high-stress to low-stress functions.
Several countries emphasized the critical importance of implementing strict infection prevention and control protocols, which not only protect health workers, but also prevent health facilities from becoming hubs of infection.
I am pleased that this lesson was highlighted as part of this year’s World Patient Safety Day.
With regard to the third webinar, on pre-service training in the context of school closures, and in-service graduate training, the power and potential of online learning was once again reinforced.
In UAE, in addition to available online resources, a high-fidelity simulator was used to create a virtual patient, allowing educators to continue problem-based learning.
In Sri Lanka, ten medical colleges joined forces to develop a framework on how to train future healthcare professionals, including through the use of online technologies.
From several countries we heard how the disruption of standard teaching methods has encouraged them to revisit educational methods, as well as the learning outcomes, knowledge and skills that medical professionals require.
Significantly, we learned of how innovative online approaches can make medical education more accessible, efficient and less costly, which has great potential in aiding recruitment and increasing health worker density.
To fully leverage this potential, remaining connectivity barriers must be overcome so that all future and in-service health workers can benefit.
Distinguished participants and partners,
The lessons learned in each of the webinars are key to our success in the ongoing COVID-19 response, recovery and beyond.
We must continue to share experiences on what works and what doesn’t, while identifying innovative ideas that drive game-changing impact.
I once again thank the AAAH for facilitating this exchange, which WHO has been pleased to support.
In addition to urging you to act on the lessons I have already highlighted, I wish to conclude by underscoring two essential messages that must guide the work of all stakeholders moving forward.
First, we must continue to promote investments in health workforce strengthening, not only during the pandemic, but also beyond it.
To achieve universal health coverage, and with it, health security and health for all, we must ensure that all countries have a health workforce that is of adequate density, equitably distributed and with the right skill-mix.
In the South-East Asia Region, WHO has placed specific emphasis on the need for countries to sustain and scale up investments in health, even amid the intense fiscal pressures countries face as a result of the pandemic.
Within health, increased funds must be allocated to enhancing both the availability and quality of health workers to shore up the pandemic response and to strengthen health system resilience throughout the recovery. This will also help drive inclusive economic growth.
Second, we must continue to focus on protecting health workers against the many occupational risks they face.
Yes, this means ensuring they have adequate PPE, for which WHO’s Central Supply Portal and Partners Platform must continue to be leveraged.
But it also means protecting the mental health and well-being of health workers and taking a zero-tolerance approach to stigma and violence.
Crucially, we must continue to be vocal in our support of health workers.
I am pleased that last week the World Health Assembly designated 2021 as the International Year of Health and Care Workers, which will of course follow this International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.
I encourage all leaders to continue to celebrate and support health workers, and to ensure that they are recognized as the heroes they are.
With that, I thank you once again for convening this series of discussions and look forward to the application of the many lessons that have been learned.
Thank you.