NEWS
Discussing The Reality of Health Workforces in The Region and Preparedness Plans Dean of CHSS At UoB Participates in WHO Meeting in Cairo
Sakhir – University of Bahrain
7 July 2023
Dr. Lina Mohammed Khenji, Dean of the College of Health and Sports Sciences (CHSS) at the University of Bahrain (UoB), recently participated in the regional meeting organized by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office in Cairo, which shed light on the reality of health workforces in the region, and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Khenji – who is the director of WHO Collaborating Center with for Nursing Development in the Eastern Mediterranean Region – stated that the meeting aimed to exchange experiences, review the experiences of countries in the region in facing regional and global challenges, in the health workforce, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, and present the strategies of member states in facing the challenges resulting from the shortage of manpower, and exchanging successful experiences and lessons learned from the pandemic.
According to the Dean, the discussions reviewed the ideas and efforts made by the member states, and the meeting concluded with the launch of a memorandum of implementation of the recommendations from the lessons learned from the pandemic, to ensure filling the current gap in the workforce in the health sector, including securing jobs in the field of public health, and plans for preparedness, readiness and response to emergencies and unexpected incidents, and developing a road map for the health future in the region, in an effort by the member states to achieve universal health coverage and the sustainable development goals.
A delegation from the Kingdom of Bahrain, in addition to representatives of the health sector in the Eastern Mediterranean region, directors of centers collaborating with WHO and international experts in health forces, participated in the meeting.
It is worth mentioning that this regional meeting is a preliminary step to contribute to the work of the preparatory meeting for the seventieth meeting of the Regional Committee, which will be held next October 2023, and will include in its agenda the issue of investment in the health workforce and the mechanism for its development.
