| Lack of Doctors in Fight against Diseases - UN |
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by Joanna Zonunsangi, 24x7 Updates
Geneva -- The UN health agency on Friday has issued a statement saying that there is a global shortage of health workers. "The Global population is growing, but the number of health workers is stagnating or even falling in many of the places where they are needed most." said Mr. Lee Jong-wook, Director General of the World Health Organization.
This universal shortage of doctors, nurses and other health workers is hampering the fight against AIDS and other fatal diseases. This shortage could create a weakness that can be easily overwhelmed by a flu pandemic or any natural disaster.
According to a report from the World Health Organization four million health workers are needed to combat the chronic shortage around the world. A total of fifty-seven countries are having a serious shortage of health workers, out of these, thirty-six countries are located in sub-Saharan Africa. The sub-Saharan African region is reported to inhabit 11% of the world’s population and although it suffers 24% of the global burden of disease it only has 3% of the world’s health workers. The WHO also said that due to this shortage the agency is unable to fight against diseases like AIDS successfully. The health situation world over is such that life expectancies in the poorest countries are half of those in the richest nations.
The lack of personnel, training and knowledge has proved to hamper the health systems as they attempt to respond effectively to chronic diseases and bird flu. The WHO has said that every country needs to improve its manner of educating and employing its doctors, nurses and other support staff. It has also called for national leaders to treat the matter with most urgency, to immediately implement country strategies for health workforce, backed by International donor assistance.
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