To mark Universal Health Coverage Day on 12 December, the World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA) has released two statements outlining calls for governments to invest in health professionals in order to progress towards universal health coverage.
The statements come as WHO member states deliberate the content of a resolution on the health workforce, due to be discussed at WHO’s next executive board on 3-11 February 2025 and which could determine workforce-related decisions at next year’s World Health Assembly.
Catherine Duggan, WHPA chair and International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) chief executive officer, said: “WHPA is calling on WHO member states to invest in health professionals to deliver safe, high-quality primary health care in order to achieve UHC.”
The WHPA statements highlight the benefits of investing in health professionals for primary health care and universal health coverage, including:
- health professionals ensure the protection of the public and quality of care
- a successful primary health care workforce is an integrated, multidisciplinary workforce
- supervision of community health workers requires more investment in the professions
- quality care by health professionals is a cost-effective solution
- avoid erosion of the professional health workforce pipeline
- multidisciplinary teams mean more comprehensive, effective and personalised care, improved patient outcomes and are an efficient use of increasingly scarce resources
View the statements on the WHPA website: Quality care by health professionals is a cost-effective path to UHC | World Health Professions Alliance
