ETHIOPIA – The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has issued an urgent call to rethink health workforce development for Africa’s health security.

According to the public health agency of the African Union (AU), the need to develop a health workforce measurement metrics framework tailored to the African context was highlighted.

Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, Ag. Director General of Africa CDC, implored AU Member States and partners not to see health workforce development as a cost to deliver care, but rather a key investment towards health outcomes.

To ensure universal health coverage and Africa’s health security, it is crucial to reimagine health workforce in size and composition, improve investment in female health workers, collaborate with the private sector, and define measurement metric to track set targets,” he said.

The Africa CDC and partners made the powerful joint call during a high-level side event on “Re-imagining Health Workforce Development for Africa’s Health Security” in the margins of the 77th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) held in New York, United States of America.

The agency worked closely with the Republic of South Africa and the Mastercard Foundation to host the high-level side event graced by AU Heads of State and Government or their representatives and the AU Commission leadership.

H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia, AU Member States Ministers of Health, Permanent Representatives to the UN, and top executives from partner institutions were also in attendance.

The successful side event concluded with the unanimous acknowledgement that a well-trained, fit-for-purpose, appropriately distributed, and optimally resourced health workforce in adequate numbers is critical for Africa’s health security.

The high-level side event highlighted the need to adopt a multisectoral approach where all ministries involved including health, education, labour and finance work collectively together to reverse the health workforce deficit in our continent,” the Africa CDC pointed out.

The agency announced that the leaders called for the elimination of all unpaid work and ensure that all health workers are adequately remunerated while emphasizing on the importance of gender parity in all health workforce cadres and ranks.

Our response to the pandemic has remarkably shown that we can take the front seat in achieving and delivering our health security,” observed H.E. President Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of South Africa.

He further called on his fellow Heads of State and Government, and partners to increase investment in health workforce development, enhanced domestic funding and collectively support the work of the Africa CDC to ensure that we achieve a fit for purpose health workforce for Africa.

At the same time, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat commended the Africa CDC for the immense efforts deployed in delivering on its mandate of safeguarding the health and wellbeing of the continent while highlighting the chronic shortage of health workforce.

The success of Africa’s response to the pandemic was heavily attributed to the role of health workers and to ensure we are ready for the next pandemic; we need to strategically invest in our health system through accelerating and scaling up health workforce development,” he said.

In addition, Ms. Reeta Roy, President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation reaffirmed the Foundation’s commitment to supporting the drive to achieve Africa’s health security through the action oriented, sustainable and respectful partnership with the Africa CDC.

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