Workers’ health programme

The workers’ health programme provides technical support to countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region in the field of occupational health. The programme encourages countries to adopt/adapt the regional framework for implementing the global plan of action on workers' health (2008–2017), develop national frameworks, unified country profiles and databases, define the research agenda on priority occupational health problems and develop qualified human resources.

The workers’ health programme aims to:

• incorporate basic occupational health services into primary health care systems to widen the coverage of working populations in rural areas and in small-scale industries and in informal sectors with these services;
• promote health in the workplace and establish well-functioning regional, subregional and national networks of healthy workplaces;
• develop comprehensive approaches to protect and promote the health of health care workers through providing occupational health services, in coordination with other existing programmes (infection control, health care waste management, workplace health promotion, quality assurance and accreditation, patient safety, supportive environments for health).

Through the programme active and sustainable partnerships are encouraged between national authorities, academic institutions, specialized centres, organizations of employers and employees and nongovernmental organizations concerned with workers’ health, in particular between Ministries of Health and Ministries of Labour/Manpower. Strengthening partnerships with international and regional organizations concerned with workers’ health, such as the International Labour Organization, Arab Labour Organization and United Nations Development programme is also one of strategic directions of the workers’ health programme.