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| Sunday, 02 April 2006 |
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Junior Observer |  |
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World Health Day - April 7: Time to think about those serving us When you fall sick, you visit a doctor, don't you? If you are seriously ill, you may even be taken to a hospital. There you will meet doctors, nurses, matrons, attendants and many other people, who will be attending to you in various ways. These people who help you, whether from hospitals or other clinics, are known as health workers. They will be the focus of attention when we celebrate World Health Day this year, on April 7.
The theme for this year's event, which is sponsored by the World Health Organisation (WHO), is 'Working Together for Health'. The events to be carried out by hundreds of organisations around the world will celebrate and honour the world's health workforce, and will be devoted to the crisis facing the health workers throughout the globe. You may know that Sri Lanka is not immune to this situation, with many protests and strikes organised by the health sector on a regular basis. These crises around the world have resulted in clinics with no health workers and hospitals that cannot recruit and retain staff. Health workers provide health care to those who need it, and are the heart of the health system. They are essential to society as the technological advancements made in the medical sector will not reach the masses without them. Through their assessments, delivery of services and monitoring of people, they effectively prevent and treat diseases. Without a properly prepared, deployed and supported health workforce, the objectives of health for all, and primary health care and the Millennium Development Goals won't be achievable. Thus, the role of health workers in society cannot be underestimated. The need for health workers has increased around the world. The rapidly ageing population in developed countries has prompted the need for medical care for them, resulting in such countries drawing the required people from developing countries. This has created a shortage of health workers in developing countries, with qualified and experienced workers migrating to more developed countries, in search of better opportunities. This has worsened the global health worker shortage, which had arisen due to under-investment in education, training, salaries, working environment and management, leaving the sector with workers lacking key skills, regular career switchings, early retirement and migration. World Health Day 2006 will also see the launch of the 'World Health Report 2006: Working for Health' and also the launch of Health Workers Decade, to be effective from 2006 to 2015. The First World Health Assembly was held by the WHO in 1948. Observing April 7 as World Health Day, to create awareness about a specific health theme to highlight a priority area of concern for health workers, started in 1950. Some of the primary areas for action are educating and training health
workers, supporting and helping them, enhancing their effectiveness and
tackling imbalances and inequities in the sector. |
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