BY MIKE OSAROGIAGBON
World Medical Association President, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, has called on governments and managers of healthcare systems to urgently resolve the mental health, burn out, and psycho-social challenges confronting physicians and other health professionals in various parts of the world.
Dr Enabulele made the call while speaking at two different sessions of the recently concluded 5th Global Forum on Human Resource for Health, organized in Geneva by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The event was held between April 3rd and 5th, 2023.
The two sessions had their separate themes, “the impact of COVID-19 on the health workforce–the past, present, and future,” and “Protecting the rights of health and care workers in times of pandemics and beyond: How to move from technical guidance to effective regulation.”
The WMA Chief traced the causes of some of the challenges to apprehension over inadequate supplies of personal protective equipment with the attendant fear of increased exposure to risk, violence against them, the stressful work routine, the crisis of brain drains and increased work load.
He maintained that all those issues amounted to an increase in burn-out of the health workforce and exit from the health professions.
Dr. Enabulele however sued for the provision of equitable access to mental and psycho-social care services to victims of the disabling working conditions.
He further enjoined governments and handlers of health systems to altruistically address the inequity in health workforce distribution, show greater political commitment to prioritized investments in the well-being, rights, safety and working conditions of the health workforce, comprehensive legal framework to protect the rights of the health workforce and reduce the incidence of violence against them.
In his remarks, the World Health Organization Director General, Dr Tedros Adnanom Ghebreyesus called for useful suggestions to help resolve the challenges of the health workforce.
He assured that the WHO will accord greater attention to the issues of health workforce to aid the attainment of Universal Health Coverage.
The forum was attended by member-states of the WHO, Health Ministers of various countries, the International Labour Organization, Health Professional Associations such as the World Medical Association, Global funding agencies, as well as other stakeholders.
