WHO seeks concrete action for safety of healthcare workers

The contribution of the health care workers during the Covid times is something which is to be appreciated. The deadly Coronavirus has claimed the lives of many of them.

With a noble cause of giving health security to the health workers, the World Health Organization and partners have issued an urgent call for concrete action to better protect health care workers worldwide from COVID-19 and other health issues.

The prime concern of the organizations is to promote the long, secure life of the health care workers.

In a Joint Statement issued this week, WHO and partners are calling on all Member State governments and stakeholders to strengthen the monitoring and reporting of COVID-19 infections, ill-health and deaths among health and care workers.

They should also include disaggregation by age, gender and occupation as a standard procedure, to enable decision-makers and scientists to identify and implement mitigation measures that will further reduce the risk of infections and ill-health.

WHO also urged political leaders and policymakers to take all the initiatives including regulatory, policy and investment decisions that ensure the protection of health and care workers.

It highlights the opportunity to align this with a forthcoming global health and care worker compact and the International Labour Organization's call for a human-centered recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.

Data recorded from 119 countries till September 2021, suggested that out of 5, 2 health and care workers were fully vaccinated on average.

Finally, the partners call upon leaders and policymakers to ensure equitable access to vaccines so that health and care workers are prioritized in the uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations. Data recorded from 119 countries till September 2021, suggested that out of 5, 2 health and care workers were fully vaccinated on average.

Less than 1 in 10 have been fully vaccinated in the African and Western Pacific regions while 22 mostly high-income countries reported that above 80% of their health and care workers are fully vaccinated. These rates only account for data reported to WHO through the standard mechanisms.

"We have a moral obligation to protect all health and care workers, ensure their rights and provide them with decent work in a safe and enabling practice environment. This must include access to vaccines", said Jim Campbell, Director of the WHO Health Workforce Department.

"Beyond vaccines, economic recovery and all new investments in emergency preparedness and response must prioritize the education and employment of health and care workers, linking to the UN Secretary-General's Global Accelerator for Jobs and Social Protection," he added.

A new WHO working paper estimates that between 80 000 to 180 000 health and care workers could have died from COVID-19 in the period between January 2020 to May 2021, converging to a medium scenario of 115 500 deaths.

These estimates are derived from the 3.45 million COVID-19 related deaths reported to WHO as of May 2021; a number by itself considered to be much lower than the real death toll (60% or more than what is reported to WHO).

WHO is currently leading efforts to develop a global health and care worker compact, based on existing legal instruments, conventions and resolutions. The compact aims to provide the Member States, stakeholders and institutions with comprehensive guidance on their existing obligations to protect health and care workers, safeguard their rights, and promote and ensure decent work, free from gender, racial and all other forms of discrimination.

The guidance will be presented to the 75th World Health Assembly in May 2022.