I am speaking on behalf of FDI World Dental Federation, supported by the World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA), representing over 31 million nurses, pharmacists, physical therapists, dentists, and physicians in over 130 countries.
WHPA welcomes the Secretariat’s report on the WHO Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030, which shows that WHO and Member States are making significant progress in strengthening the health workforce.
Despite this, continued action is needed if we are to realize universal health coverage and other health-related Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. We urge Member States to continue to implement the policy options provided in the global strategy and WHPA stands ready to assist with its implementation. Furthermore, the need for states to invest in recruitment and retention of their workforce continues to be crucial.
It is encouraging to see that in Clause 6., WHO is in the process of developing a global competency framework for education and training of primary health care workers with the Global Health Workforce Network Hub. We request to participate in the consultation round of this framework.
We support the Secretariat’s proposals in Clause 27 (a) and (b) for Member States to report national data on human resources for health through the online platform for national health workforce accounts and to recommend the proposed streamlined reporting on health workforce resolutions to the Health Assembly. We recommend however that such data collection is meaningfully processed, without adding further burden on health professionals.
Finally, we would like to stress that health professionals are here to help and are key stakeholders in improving quality of care and health systems. We encourage states to work with health professionals in order to better understand, prepare and plan for the existing and future needs of their health workforce and system.