Invest in health workers: for the present COVID-19 crisis and future health system resilience
The Health Workers for All Coalition joins an urgent request from 143 civil society organisations to major global health funders to invest in recruitment of health workers in resource limited contexts. The organisations ask commitments and contributions to pooled, adequate long-term investments in the health workforce for the short term COVID-19 response, ensuring continued access to primary care but also future health system resilience.
Most funders have already made additional resources available to governments of low and lower- middle-income countries for COVID-19 response. However, these support packages do not specifically prioritise the urgent need to recruit additional health personnel alongside essential investments in research, vaccine development, protective personal equipment and test kits.
Countries where severe shortages of health personnel have been insufficiently addressed in normal circumstances, will not be able to cope with the high pressure that comes with COVID-19. Moreover without sufficient health workers access to primary healthcare and progress made in HIV/AIDS, TB, sexual and reproductive health, malaria, maternal and child health programmes is under threat.
The organisations want the global health institutions to align policies and funding and address the gaps in human resources for health. They have formulated specific asks for each institution, ranging from the elimination of restrictions on use of funds, so they can be used for recruitment of health workers, to the cancellation of debt payments.
The letter was sent to GAVI the Vaccine Alliance, Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), the Global Financing Facility (GFF), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and copies the Development Committee of the European Commission.
