2021 has been designated as the International Year of Health and Care Workers by the World Health Organization (WHO) in appreciation and gratitude for their unwavering dedication in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and to highlight the key role of human resources for health in society's ability to care for the health of its citizens at the global level. This campaign focuses on paid health and care workers..
The Region of the Americas is participating in this campaign, under the theme "PROTECT. INVEST. TOGETHER", which highlights the urgent need to increase investment in and protection for health and care workers as a tangible way of recognizing their role. Access to universal health requires investment and protection at all times, not only during health emergencies, as this type of investment pays off generously in terms of health, employment, and economic and social opportunities. We must all, therefore, commit to ensuring safe and decent working conditions for our health and care workers, and to protecting their health, including their mental health.
The campaign calls emphatically for greater efforts to PROTECTand INVEST in health and care workers to achieve Universal Health. Only TOGETHER can we make this vision a reality.
Call to action
Encourage greater investment by governments in health and care workers to ensure safe and decent working conditions.
Protect health and care workers as essential components for the continuity and sustainability of health care and health services.
Invest in training and improve employment and working conditions to ensure quality care for the population.
Transmit the community’s recognition and appreciation for the dedication and efforts of health and care workers in addressing health needs.
Key messages
International Nurses Day. (12 May)
Webinar and publication launch: "Contributions of nursing and midwifery professionals to women's health: Stories provided by countries in the Region of the Americas"
Launch of "State of the World's Midwifery (SOWM) Report" and webinar on nursing and midwifery contributions to women's health
Publication: Contributions of nursing and midwifery professionals to women's health - Reports from the Region of the Americas (Available in Spanish. The English and Portuguese versions coming soon)
Infographic: Situation of nursing in the Region of the Americas (only in Spanish)
Video: PAHO Collaborating Center for Nursing at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Perspectives and contributions of nursing to the promotion of universal health.
World Health Day (7 April)
The future of medical education in the Region of the Americas - 7 April
More information ...
Seventy-third World Health Assembly (WHA73) (24 May - 1 June)
Launch of "WHO Virtual Academy" as a tribute to health workers
Launch: "Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery"
"Working for Health"
"State of the World's Midwifery report"
Virtual meeting. May
Meeting of State and civil society actors: solidarity, advocacy, and support for health and care workers (sponsored by Brazil)
59th PAHO Directing Council and pre-event. 24-30 September
Response to the pandemic based on progress of the Plan of Action on Human Resources for Universal Health
Tribute Documentary. (October)
Documentary on health and care workers during the pandemic: a tribute to health workers who died of COVID-19 at work (sponsored by Brazil)
Fifth Global Forum on Human Resources for Health (15-19 November)
Fifth Global Forum on Human Resources for Health
COUNTRY AUTHORITIES
- Investments in the training and employment of health workers are cost-effective.
- The protection of health workers will help ensure that there is a sufficient number of workers who are properly deployed and qualified, to provide continuity and quality health care.
- Investing in human resources for health leads to more efficient and equitable health care.
- The Region of the Americas faces a shortage of health workers. Investment in the training and number of workers will help improve availability of personnel. Labor policies will contribute to the protection of workers and improved working conditions.
- Globally, 70% of the health and social workforce are women; let’s empower them and promote their leadership to achieve equitable, dignified, and decent work for them.
- Health and care workers have protected and cared for us during the COVID-19 pandemic; it is the obligation of authorities to protect and recognize these workers by ensuring adequate working conditions.
- Health and care workers are key to resilient health systems. We must protect and invest in them in order to attract more professionals and improve their working conditions.
- We must ensure that health and care workers have access to information and knowledge, have opportunities to improve and update their skills, and have adequate working conditions to do their job.
- We must learn from the pandemic, in order to create, innovate, and invest in health and care workers, building health systems and services that are more efficient and effective.
- We need to understand that investing in human resources for health is an important factor that protects the health and lives of all and that fosters the social and economic development of populations, especially in places with high inequities.
- We must recognize that health and care workers are a key factor for the continuity, quality, and sustainability of health care and services.
- We must actively seek a valued, protected workforce in sufficient numbers to meet health needs.
- We need to channel the lessons learned during this health emergency to generate innovative measures at work, in professional practice, and in health education that go beyond provisional measures, creating a different institutional concept than that which existed prior to the pandemic
HEALTH AND CARE WORKERS
- Our public health care system functions thanks to you! You make a difference!
- Your skills, knowledge, and empathy make a difference in health care.
- You have protected and cared for us during the COVID-19 pandemic. We offer you our gratitude and respect
GENERAL PUBLIC
- Without health and care workers, there can be no health or care services
- We must value and respect health and care workers. Taking care of health is a shared responsibility.
- Investing in health and care workers benefits us all.
- Health and care workers have protected and cared for us during the COVID-19 pandemic; we now have an obligation to protect, respect, and recognize them.
- Health and care workers need support, resources, and equipment to provide health care safely at all times, not just during COVID-19.
- Health and care workers are at the frontline of the COVID-19 response, providing quality care and treatment, as well as moral and psychological support.
- Applause is not enough. Let us join in the call for increased investment to improve the protection and working conditions of health and care workers.
- 2021 is the International Year of Health and Care Workers. Our commitment and actions to support health and care workers benefit us all by improving our health and lives.
- 2021: International Year of Health and Care Workers. Support them so they can support you
Feature stories of health and care workers in action
Caribbean countries boost the capacities of nurses in critical care during COVID-19
Brittany Baptise is a nurse at the Scarborough General Hospital in Trinidad and Tobago, in the Caribbean. Today is her day off and she smiles as she describes how nervous she was when she learned that she would be working in an intensive care unit (ICU) to treat COVID-19 patients.
"I was a bit fearful because, coming from the medical ward, we didn’t really know the rules and function of an ICU. I had no formal training, I had little knowledge about how the ventilator works, the settings and these things.”
By the end of September 2020, Brittany was trained and working in the ICU with new skills and competencies to offer as part of an integrated team of health professionals. She was one of a cadre of 82 nurses across 7 Caribbean countries to take part in a 4-week training course to learn new skills and competencies to work in ICUs.
Health Care Workers Surviving the COVID-19 Pandemic
Health Care Workers across the globe continue to go above and beyond the call of duty. In the Caribbean, the challenges are no different, the physical and mental affects, stigma and discrimination, fear of infection, and overall trying their best to keep it together. They show up everyday and put us first. This video feature shares stories of health care workers in the Eastern Caribbean and how they survive
Low vaccination coverage due to the pandemic forced health authorities to take key actions in the community
Health Services in Azángaro: A trek through rural Potosi
Helping women give birth during the pandemic: the experience of four midwives
Supporting children with cancer in times of COVID-19 in the Dominican Republic
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