Philippines Highlights National Health Priorities and Champions Sustainable Global Health Workforce at Annual WHO Meeting
From left: DOH Secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa engages in a conversation with Jamaican Health Minister Christopher Tufton, Ms Margaret Caffey of THET, and WHO Assistant Director General Bruce Aylward during the Philippines-hosted event, “Promoting a sustainable and equitable health workforce” held on 30 May 2024 at the sidelines of the 77th World Health Assembly.
GENEVA 19 June 2024 – The Philippines underscored its public health priorities during the 77th World Health Assembly, the annual meeting of health ministers organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, from 27 May to 1 June 2024.
In his plenary statement delivered on 28 May 2024, Health Secretary Teodoro J Herbosa touted the Philippines’ Health Sector Medium-term Agenda and Universal Health Care Law, which is rooted in primary health care. He shared Philippine efforts in disease prevention, health literacy, and maintaining resilient health systems.
Secretary Herbosa also announced that the Philippines will continue to lead and support international efforts towards a sustainable global health workforce, noting that this will be the Philippines’ lasting contribution to the international health system.
Related to this, the Philippines successfully hosted an event entitled, Promoting a sustainable and equitable health workforce on 30 May 2024 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva. The side event, which was attended by other WHO Member States and non-state actors, presented a platform to exchange ideas on how to leverage health workforce migration in addressing the estimated 10 million global shortfall of health professionals by 2030.
Representatives from destination countries such as Germany and Norway, as well as from source countries such as Jamaica and Botswana participated in a moderated panel to share their different national perspectives. A separate panel discussion was held featuring think tanks and advocacy groups. WHO Assistant Director General Bruce Aylward and WHO Western Pacific Regional Director Dr. Saia Piukala also delivered remarks, in which they both commended the Philippines for its leadership in the health workforce space.
In his opening speech, Secretary Herbosa said that “Filipino healthcare workers have become known worldwide for their contributions on providing outstanding healthcare, locally and abroad.” He added, “We celebrate their excellence, professionalism, and attainment of success, at the same time as we advocate for equitable cooperation, safeguards, and investments for capacity-building that would benefit all health systems.”
The event was organized in partnership with the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET). END
From left: Permanent Health Secretary Oathokwa Nkomazana (Botswana), Health Minister Atonio Lalabalavu (Fiji), Undersecretary Ken Ronquillo (Philippines), Bjorn Kummel, Head of Global Health (Germany), Health Secretary General Catherine Lofthus (Norway) and Health Minister Christopher Tufton (Jamaica) during a high-level panel discussion on health workforce migration.
For more information, visit https://www.genevapm.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.facebook.com/PHinGeneva/ or https://www.instagram.com/phingeneva/.