The President of the World Medical Association, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, has called on governments and health‑system managers to address the mental‑health, burnout, and psychosocial challenges confronting physicians and other health professionals. He made these remarks at the recently concluded fifth Global Forum on Human Resources for Health, organized by the World Health Organization in Geneva.
Speaking on the themes “The impact of COVID‑19 on the health workforce – The past, present, and future” and “Protecting the rights of health and care workers in times of pandemics and beyond – How to move from technical guidance to effective regulation,” Dr. Enabulele highlighted the profound impact of the pandemic. He lamented that health‑system challenges have severely affected the mental health and psychosocial well‑being of the workforce, and that governments and managers have failed to provide concrete solutions.
He traced these problems to several factors: inadequate supplies of personal protective equipment, which heightened fear of exposure; violence against health workers; stressful work routines; a brain‑drain crisis; and increased workloads. These conditions have led to higher rates of burnout, greater attrition from the health professions, and overall deterioration of workforce morale.
“I call for the provision of equitable access to mental and psychosocial care services for victims of disabling working conditions,” Dr. Enabulele urged. He charged governments and health‑system managers with altruistically addressing inequities in workforce distribution, demonstrating stronger political commitment to prioritized investments in the well‑being, rights, safety, and working conditions of health workers, and establishing a comprehensive legal framework to protect their rights and reduce violence. He also advocated for strengthening provisions for the health workforce in the evolving draft of the pandemic treaty, among other recommendations.
Earlier, in his welcome remarks, WHO Director‑General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus invited useful suggestions to resolve health‑workforce challenges and pledged that the WHO would give greater attention to these issues to support the achievement of Universal Health Coverage.
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