This week, in statements made on behalf of IntraHealth International, president and CEO Pape Gaye will address the 67^th World Health Assembly to urge the World Health Organization (WHO) and its member states to make investments in the health workforce a post-2015 priority.

The annual World Health Assembly is WHO’s governance forum and is attended by health ministers and other delegates from its 194 member states. During the Assembly, member states vote on major policy questions and the annual WHO program. The agenda of the World Health Assembly is packed with today’s leading and emerging health issues, including tuberculosis, disabilities, maternal and child nutrition, autism, and healthy aging.

But we cannot meet any of these challenges, Gaye says, without trained, equipped health workers.

“There is a global deficit of 7.2 million doctors, nurses, and midwives,” Gaye says. “By 2035, that number could reach 12.9 million—if we don’t act. Health workers are a cornerstone of health systems. We must produce greater numbers; create stronger bridges from education to employment; maximize performance; motivate and retain them; and ensure high-quality care.”

Gaye specifically urges the World Health Assembly to endorse a health workforce target in the post-2015 development framework and to enact a strategy to deliver it. Read the full statement here.

In a related statement, Gaye also urges member states to implement the health workforce commitments they already made during the Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health in November 2013. Read the full statement here.

In January 2014, IntraHealth entered into official relations with WHO, a status that confers the opportunity to address the Assembly as well as the responsibility to collaborate with WHO, member countries, and others to advance WHO’s global, regional, and national health strategies.  

Related:

• Five Key Steps to Making the Health Workforce a Post-MDG Priority