Health workforce

Regional dialogue on diaspora engagement in health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

The WHO Regional Office for Eastern Mediterranean, in collaboration with the IOM Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa will host a regional dialogue on diaspora engagement in health in the Region on 28 June 2022. This is the first session in a series of regional dialogues as part of collaborative plans between the two organizations to maintain a continuous dialogue on international mobility of health professionals in the Region. The event will be hybrid, held in the WHO Regional Office in Cairo and virtually.

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Year of the Health and Care Workers 2021

2021 has been designated as the International Year of Health and Care Workers in appreciation and gratitude for their unwavering dedication in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. WHO is launching a year-long campaign, under the theme – Protect. Invest. Together. It highlights the urgent need to invest in health workers for shared dividends in health, jobs, economic opportunity and equity.

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Key dates for advocacy

World Health Worker Week: 5–9 April
World Health Day: 7 April
International Day of the Midwife: 5 May
International Nurses Day: 12 May

COVID-19

Health workers are at the forefront of the response to COVID-19, both as service providers and as high-risk groups for contracting the disease. The rapidly increasing workload has resulted in shortages in the health workforce as well as producing a highly stressful working environment with long working hours, psychological distress, fatigue and occupational burnout.

The WHO Regional Office has developed an interim guidance note to guide actions. A number of other guidance notes and tools are also available to support actions.

Health workforce response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Guidance for health workers

Surge planning tools for visualizing acute and intensive care capacity needs over time and planning of human resources for health systems

WHO Academy mobile application

Health workforce country snapshots

The health workforce snapshots were developed to provide a brief overview of the health workforce situation in each country of the Eastern Mediterranean Region. The snapshots are based on quantitative and qualitative data, highlighting key health workforce issues in countries.

Country snapshots

The Framework for Action on Health Workforce Development in the Eastern Mediterranean Region 2017–2030

The Framework for Action on Health Workforce Development in the Eastern Mediterranean Region 2017-2030 was endorsed at the 64th Regional Committee in Islamabad, Pakistan in October 2017.

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