…Hints On Psycho-Social Problems Being Faced by Health Workforce
By Ikhili EBALU, Benin City
The World Medical Association, WMA, President, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, has called on Governments and managers of health systems to quickly resolve the mental health, burn out, and psycho-social challenges currently being faced by physicians and other health professionals in various parts of the world.
Enabulele posited this comments, 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 from April 3-5, 2023.
The theme. “the impact of COVID-19 on the health workforce–the past, present, and future,” while the theme of the 2nd session was: “Protecting the rights of health and care workers in times of pandemics and beyond: How to move from technical guidance to effective regulation.”
Highlighting the obstacles faced by physicians and other health professionals, across the world, Dr.Enabulele particularly decried the huge impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and health system challenges on the mental health and psycho-social state of the health workforce, and the inability of governments and managers of health systems to concretely and altruistically address the challenge which he traced 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 drain and increased work load, with resultant increase in burn-out of the health workforce, and increased exit from the health professions.
Calling for provision of equitable access to mental and psycho-social care services to victims of the disabling working conditions, Dr.Enabulele, charged governments and managers of health systems to altruistically address the inequity in health workforce distribution, and to 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, as well as strengthening the provisions for the health workforce in the evolving draft of the pandemic treaty, amongst other recommendations he articulately projected during the sessions held respectively on Monday, April 3, 2023.
In his welcome address, WHO Director General,Dr Tedros Adnanom Ghebreyesus, welcomed all participants to the global forum and 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 the health workforce to aid the attainment of Universal Health Coverage.
It would be clear that, the 5th Global Forum on Human Resource for Health had in attendance the Director General of the World Health Organization, Dr.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, 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 many other stakeholders.
Furthermore, the Global Forum ended with a colourful closing ceremony on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, with closing remarks delivered by the WHO Director General.