WHA75: Constituency Statement on Human Resources for Health

Constituency Statement on Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030 

75th World Health Assembly (Agenda item 15) 

23 May 2022 

The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the critical importance of health workers to strengthen health systems and global health security. It has highlighted women’s central role in delivering health services, since women are 70% health workers, and 90% of frontline health workers.  

Community Health Workers and Primary Care providers have played an irreplaceable role during the pandemic and in continuing essential health services. However, after over two years of unprecedented stress, health workers are experiencing burnout and leaving their professions, deepening the existing global health worker shortage. Additionally, many women health workers are marginalized in decision making, underpaid, often unprotected and harassed. 

Therefore we call on member states to: 

• Create an enabling environment where women in all their intersecting identities can harness their expertise and play an equal role in health decision-making and leadership ;   
• Ensure safe, decent and equal work for Women health workers including those providing critical SRH services, through a new social contract , which is fair for women and strengthens  health systems.  
• Address the burnout and shortage of health workers, which risks the low quality of care for clients including for mothers and babies. 
• Implement large scale gender-responsive training of the health workforce to meet future  needs and achieve UHC, including with. pandemic prevention, preparedness and response financing mechanisms.   
• Strengthen Primary Health Care through recruitment and training, including on sexual and reproductive health, and addressing retention. Ensure PHC reaches the most marginalized by incentivizing Health workers to work in remote and rural areas ; 
• Collect and  use data on unpaid and underpaid healthcare work, including  in the informal healthcare sector, 
• Support the critical role of WHO, and provide sufficient  funding to the Multi-Partner Trust Fund. 

Download the Constituency Statement on Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030