The Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) National Director of Nursing Mr, Michael Larui attends The Fifth Global Forum on Human Resources for Health during World Health Worker Week last month.
The Forum was held under the theme of Protecting, safeguarding, and investing in the health and care workforce.
Marking more than five years since the adoption of the Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030, the Forum provided updates on progress in its implementation and share evidence and experiences on workforce development, as well as opportunities for a post COVID-19 era to inform the implementation of the Working for Health 2022-2030 Action Plan.
The forum also examined the required policy solutions, investments, and multi-sectoral partnerships to address health and care workforce challenges and advance health systems towards universal health coverage and health security.
The Forum was intersectoral and engaged participation from a range of actors, including high-impact decision-makers, across education, finance, gender, health, labor or employment, and migration sectors.
The objectives of the forum were to
Outcomes of the Forum will inform the United Nations General Assembly’s High-Level Meeting on UHC in September 2023.
Mr Larui was a panel member during one of the special sessions on Action agenda for small islands and developing states (SIDS). Other members of the panel include the Minister for Health of Carbo Verde, Health Scretay of Papua New Guinea, Chief Nursing Officer of Belize and Director of the School of Nursing, Trinidad and Tobago.
Mr Larui’s intervention was on Nursing Leadership Networks & Workforce Development in the pacific
Health and care workforce issues impacting on Small Islands and Developing States (SIDS) ability to deliver UHC and health security are unique, given the specific geographic and population contexts that they face. Workforce production capacity constraints, underpinned by persistent shortages and the pull factor of international migration, especially for the nursing and midwifery workforce are key among these.
In response, WHO is supporting a broad range of workforce development issues, including through sub-regional platforms: e.g., the CARICOM Caribbean Roadmap and HRH Action Task Force; quality improvement of nursing in the Pacific; AFRO SIDS pooled procurement, and more recently the launch of the PAHO joint action: America Health Corps initiative. Enabling SIDS to adopt a shared, comprehensive, and multisectoral approach to the specific workforce governance, planning, financing, education, employment, performance, protection, and safeguarding challenges which they face is critical.
-MHMS Press