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Nurses assigned to the Infectious Diseases Unit (IDU) at the Kenyatta University Hospital dance during a Zumba class in the hospital compound in Nairobi

Corona Virus

WHO calls for measures to protect health care workers from COVID-19

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 22 – The World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners have issued an urgent call for the implementation of concrete action to protect healthcare workers globally from COVID-19 and other health issues.

This comes on the backdrop of a large number of healthcare workers who have died from COVID-19, with an increasing proportion of the workforce suffering from burn out, stress, anxiety and fatigue.

Data from 119 countries showed that by September, 2021, 2 in 5 health care workers were vaccinated on average with considerable difference across regions and economic groupings.

In Kenya, 153, 942 healthcare workers had been fully vaccinated by mid October 2021, while 228,274 have only received the first jab.

As of October 20, 2021, a total of 4,733,770 vaccines had so far been administered across the country.

Of these, 3,416,746 were partially vaccinated while those fully vaccinated were 1,317,024.

WHO also noted that less than one in ten have been fully vaccinated in African and western pacific regions, while 22, mostly high income countries, reported that over 80% of the healthcare workers were fully vaccinated.

WHO Health Workforce Department Director, Jim Campbell said that it is a moral obligation of member state governments and stakeholders to protect all health care workers ensure and their rights and provide them with decent work in safe enabling practice environment.

“Beyond Vaccines, economic recovery, and all new investments in emergency preparedness and response must prioritize the education and employment of healthcare workers,” said Campbell.

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A new WHO working paper estimates that between 80,000 and 180,000 healthcare workers could have died from COVID-19  in the period between January 2020 to May 2021, converging to a medium scenario of 115, 500 deaths.

These estimates are derived from the 3.45 million COVID-19 related deaths reported to WHO as at May 2021; a number considered to be much lower than the real death toll (60% or more than what is reported to WHO).

International Pharmaceutical Federation Chief Executive Officer Catherine Duggan, emphasized on the need to safeguard healthcare workers with long-term, sustainable investments in the healthcare workforce the world will not recover.

WHO is currently leading efforts to develop a global health and care worker compact, based on existing legal instruments, conventions and resolutions.

The compact aims to provide Member States, stakeholders and institutions with comprehensive guidance on their existing obligations to protect health and care workers, safeguard their rights, and to promote and ensure decent work, free from gender, racial and all other forms of discrimination.

The guidance will be presented to the 75th World Health Assembly in May 2022.

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