Global Fund is pleased to announce the launch of the Investment Charter for Health Professionals in Africa – Press Releases

Global Fund is worked up to announce the launch of the Investment Charter for Health Professionals in Africa

May 6, 2024

– The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) warmly welcomes the launch African Health Power Investment Charterwhich was signed today in Windhoek, Namibia through the Health Workers Investment Forum in Africa.

The African continent bears 1 / 4 of the world’s disease burden and experiences greater than 100 health emergencies yearly. Yet half of the worldwide medical examiner shortage affects a continent that employs just 4% of the worldwide workforce. To date, 1 in 3 expert medical examiners in Africa are unemployed or underemployed attributable to difficult macroeconomic conditions, imbalances in health labor markets, unfavorable health working conditions and health risks. and safety. The World Health Organization (WHO) projects that the African region (47 countries) will face a shortage of an estimated 5.3 million medical examiners by 2030.

The Charter – developed by WHO in collaboration with African Member States, the Global Fund and other partners – sets out fundamental principles to stimulate and align sustainable, long-term investments in health workforce education and job creation around a shared national investment plan, rooted in sound evaluation , e.g evaluation of the labor market in health care. This will reduce duplication and potential inefficiencies and help mobilize the extra resources that countries have to make progress towards universal health coverage and the delivery of the crucial health package. The primary goal is to halve the shortage of medical examiners in African countries by 2030.

“The launch of the African Health Workforce Investment Charter is a significant milestone for the African continent and for all investors in health workers, and we are proud to have supported its development and signed it,” said Shunsuke Mabuchi, Director of Resilience and Sustainability Preparedness Systems and health and pandemic response on the Global Fund. “We applaud our partners’ strong support for the principles and actions for health workers enshrined in the Charter and look forward to supporting its implementation.”

The Global Fund consistently invests in human resources for health (HRH), with funds allocated to this area representing the most important share of investment in health systems and communities across funding cycles. Between 2024 and 2026, the Global Fund will invest USD 1.9 billion in HRH, including USD 1.3 billion in Africa, of which just about 60% might be allocated to the salaries of health care staff. This support covers various areas aligned with national strategies and plans. We are currently supporting 16 African countries to enhance HRH strategic planning and dialogue processes to progressively move from vertical HRH support to integrated workforce planning, with a concentrate on primary care workforce development. This also includes support and involvement in health labor market evaluation and other HRH analyses. Our support for education in Africa, including job readiness training, has reached $12 million this cycle, a serious area of ​​growth in comparison with previous cycles. We support modern ways of delivering worker training and development, promoting digitization, rationalization and accreditation training.

For the present 2024-2026 period, around half of the Global Fund’s total investment in HRH in Africa – USD 634 million – is specifically in support of local medical examiners. This represents 70% of world investment in local medical examiners. Aligned with national plans, these investments enable local medical examiners to coach, reward, equip, supervise, count and protect, and fully integrate into primary care teams. We also provide funding for advocacy efforts to make sure legal protection and recognition for community medical examiners to make sure they receive the pay and dealing conditions they deserve.

The Global Fund supports Monrovia – a call to motionwhich advocates for the professionalization of local medical examiners, and Program from Lusakawhich calls for greater investment to strengthen resilient health systems, including at community level.