By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
As.the World Health Organization, WHO celebrates its 75th anniversary, Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called on countries to renew their drive to achieve health equity in the face of unprecedented challenges.
Ghebreyesus in a message to mark the anniversary called on governments and leaders to act to protect and invest in health and care workers who are at the forefront of response to health and climate emergencies.
WHO urged the 194 member States and partners to invest to provide health by prioritizing primary health care as the foundation of universal health coverage.
According to the health organization, in the next 75 years and in the next century, a renewed commitment to health equity will be the key to addressing future health challenges.
Ghebreyesus said, “The history of WHO demonstrates what is possible when nations come together for a common purpose. “We have much to be proud of, but much work to do to realize our founding vision of the highest attainable standard of health for all people.”
‘We continue to face vast inequities in access to health services, major gaps in the world’s defenses against health emergencies, and threats from health harming products and the climate crisis. We can only meet these global challenges with global cooperation.”
To meet these challenges, WHO is urging countries to take urgent action to protect, support and expand the health workforce as a strategic priority. Investments in education, skills and decent jobs for health need to be prioritized to meet the rapidly growing demand for health and avert a projected shortage of 10 million health workers by 2030; primarily in low- and middle-income countries, he said.
Furthermore, WHO recently announced a global education programme on basic emergency care targeting 25% of nurses and midwives from 25 low- and middle-income countries by the end of 2025.
The global health organization noted that the 25x25x25 emergency care programme will provide nurses and midwives with the skills and competencies to make a major difference in saving lives and reducing disabilities.
However, WHO noted over the extraordinary progress achieved in the past seven and half decades in protecting people from diseases and destruction, including smallpox eradication, reducing the incidence of polio by 99%, saving millions of lives through childhood immunization, declines in maternal mortality and improving health and well-being for millions more.
WHO further said that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that protecting health is fundamental to our economies, societies, security and stability, adding that the experience learned from the worst pandemic in recent history, makes WHO eager to support the 194 countries to negotiate a pandemic accord.
” The revision of the International Health Regulations and other financial, governance and operational initiatives to prepare the world for future pandemics.”
