The "most acute shortages" will be in the poorest countries, Tedros Ghebreyesus told a media briefing on the organization's 75th anniversary.

Noting that many health and care workers worked in "unsafe conditions, with low pay and inadequate training" even before COVID-19, Tedros said: "The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded the world of the immense value of health and care workers. And yet an estimated 50% of health and care workers experienced burnout during the pandemic."


"As the world rebuilds from the COVID-19 pandemic, we are calling on all countries to protect and invest in their health and care workforce, with safe working conditions, decent pay, protection of labor rights, and protection from violence and discrimination," he said.


Speaking about WHO's 75th anniversary, which will be marked on Friday, Tedros said: "The challenges we face today are very different to those in 1948, but our vision remains unchanged: the highest possible standard of health, for all people."

On April 7, 1948, the WHO Constitution came into force.


"It was, and is, a landmark document," he said, adding it was the first document in history to formally recognize health as a human right.

Since then, life expectancy globally has increased from 46 to 73 years, with the biggest gains in the poorest countries, he said.

Smallpox eradicated, polio on the brink

"Smallpox has been eradicated, and polio is on the brink; These are actually two of the important highlights during the 75 years of existence of the organization," Tedros said.

"Forty-two countries have eliminated malaria; The epidemics of HIV and TB have been pushed back; 47 countries have eliminated at least one neglected tropical disease," the WHO chief said.


He also noted that smoking and maternal mortality has fallen by a third, child mortality has halved in the past 20 years alone, while in the past five years, new vaccines for Ebola and malaria have been developed and licensed.


For the past three years, WHO has coordinated the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic – "the most severe health crisis in a century," he said.

However, the WHO director-general said, at least half the world’s population still lacks access to one or more services like family planning, basic sanitation, or access to a health worker.

"Since 2000, the number of people who experience financial hardship from out-of-pocket health spending has increased by a third, to almost two billion," Tedros said.

"Noncommunicable diseases now account for more than 70% of all deaths globally. Rates of diabetes and obesity have increased dramatically, driven by unhealthy diets and physical inactivity."


While progress against malaria and tuberculosis has stalled, air pollution and climate change are jeopardizing the very habitability of our planet, he continued.

Underlining that COVID-19 showed the remaining "serious gaps" in the world’s defenses against epidemics and pandemics, he said: "For all these reasons and more, the world needs WHO now more than ever."

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