We’re Taking our Health Care Workers for Granted

Friend,
The past three years of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the absolutely crucial role health care workers play. Yet, in every corner of the globe, we have allowed them to be pushed to their breaking point.

 THE ISSUE >> 

Long before anyone had heard of COVID-19, the shortage and treatment of health care workers was an urgent issue.

During the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, it was community health workers on the front lines caring for the sick with insufficient training and protective equipment. In many of the world’s poorer areas, we rely on community health workers — 70% of whom are female and vastly underpaid — if they are paid at all.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, health workers in every corner of the world rose to the challenge, bravely leaving their families and the safety of home to save lives, despite the dangerous shortage of personal protective equipment and low pay.

Frontline workers in places like Ethiopia, Haiti and Colombia — already overworked and under-supported — were left without protection as they watched peers in wealthier countries receive the first vaccines. Months later, when vaccines finally did arrive, they only covered 24% of people. These shortfalls of PPE and vaccines weren’t just unfair, they were deadly: at least 115,000 health workers died of COVID-19.

It's no wonder they’ve experienced significant health consequences like burnout, anxiety, and stress. Widespread stigma and social exclusion prevents many health care workers from the seeking the help they need.

The uneven distribution of workers throughout health systems, along with insufficient and inequitable pay, fuels deep and widespread burnout — leading many to leave the profession for good.

The World Health Organization estimates a projected shortfall of 10 million health workers globally by 2030. So what now?

 WHAT WE'RE DOING TO HELP >> 

To rebuild our health systems, we have no choice but to strengthen our education pipeline, provide better trainings and certifications, supply and staff health facilities, and rethink the way we compensate and care for those who care for us everyday.

🌏 Project HOPE is training and equipping health workers around the globe. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we provided 18 million pieces of PPE and helped deliver vaccine trainings in 40 countries.

🧠 To tackle burnout and mental health stigma, we’ve trained 70,000 care professionals in 40 countries through  our Mental Health and Resiliency training program — providing them with with tools to manage stress, cope with trauma, and do real self-care.

🤱 In communities where maternal and child death rates are high due in part to inadequately-trained or insufficient numbers of health care staff,  we’re supporting education and training pathways for nurses and midwives to help more new mothers and babies survive.

Ultimately, it will take all of us to turn the tide. What we need is a deep, thoughtful and coordinated investment across the world to rethink the way we treat our health workers. Our health care heroes must be adequately supplied, educated, trained and supported so they can not only save lives in their communities today — but so we are ready for the pandemic of tomorrow.

Our health workers deserve that, and our global health depends on it.

Thank you,
Jed Meline
Project HOPE Director, Policy and Advocacy

Urvi Chowdhury
Project HOPE Policy Advocacy Fellow