Countries must urgently increase investment in health systems and address safety risks to health workers, FIP said at the 150th session of the World Health Organization Executive Board today. 

The federation made a statement on behalf of the World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA) on an agenda item about WHO preparedness for and response to health emergencies. Investment should not only be for a global health emergency workforce able to respond rapidly to any acute event, but it must also be applied to the health workforce as a whole, said Zuzana Kusynova, FIP lead for policy, practice and compliance.

The WHPA says that inaction has resulted in a deterioration of working conditions, professional shortages and service disruptions that have severely impacted on people’s health, and that governments must involve health professionals in any way forward.

The alliance will also call on governments to work more closely with health professions on implementing the 2023-2030 roadmap for the global action plan for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). In a further statement, the WHPA is expected to ask for World Health Assembly side events to be kept because they are useful platforms for non-state actors to engage and collaborate with member states and WHO, allowing exchange of expertise on technical matters.

Read the full statements here:

• Strengthening WHO preparedness for and response to health emergencies
• Political declaration of the third high- level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of NCDs
• WHO reform (Involvement of non-state actors in WHO’s governing bodies)