Last year, Atul Gawande, USAID's deputy administrator for global health, began his address at an international conference on primary health care with some startling statistics: By 2030, an estimated 1,000 It is estimated that there will be a shortage of 10,000 medical workers. Almost half of this shortage will be experienced on the African continent. Many countries struggle to meet the WHO's global minimum target of 44.5 health workers per 10,000 people. The shortage itself is also exacerbating health worker burnout, due to low wages, hazardous working conditions, poor infrastructure, and lack of community trust. A budget deficit of this size will have an increasingly severe impact on the health care system and the people who work and receive it.
Without workers, improvements in access, quality, and innovation in health care will surely be reversed. How can we ensure that all health professionals are supported, from those who lead national programs and operate health supply chains and health information systems, to those involved in counseling and customer care? Or?
This Global Health Workforce Week, JSI, together with our partners, is calling for renewed commitment and investment in a safe and supported global health workforce. Through our collaboration with healthcare professionals and the evidence generated by our work around the world, we have identified concrete approaches to meaningfully support their work.
