We Are Hiring!

The World Federation of Public Health Associations is currently looking for a Communication Officer (30%) for the International Office in Geneva, Switzerland.

The WFPHA is an international, non-profit, nongovernmental organization composed of over 130 associations member, mostly multidisciplinary national public health associations, and representing around 5 million public health professionals worldwide. WFPHA is accredited as an NGO in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO). The Federation is also accredited to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), holds consultation status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and holds observer status with Codex Alimentarius of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

The Communications Officer (30%) will be responsible for developing, leading, and implementing the scientific communication strategy for the World Congress on Public Health.

Key Responsibilities

• Writing and editing of original content (letters, articles, statements, press releases, newsletters, etc.) in the area of global public health.
• Providing content for different platforms (website and social media).
• Producing visual content for social media.
• Executing external digital communications (website, social media, email/text campaigns, Google AdWords, etc.).
• Liaising and coordinating with stakeholders.
• Maintaining a database of media organizations and contacts within them.

Qualification and Experience

• University degree in Communications, Journalism, International Relations or similar.
• Strong knowledge of and experience with global public health.
• 4+ years prior experience in communication & press work, as well as social media. Previous experience in managing events’ communication would be an asset.
• Previous experience with congress communication would be an asset.
• Excellent command of English; further languages would be an asset.
• Excellent writing and editing skills.
• Knowledge and experience using the Adobe Creative apps including Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat, Premiere Elements, and other graphic design software.
• Knowledge and experience in producing and posting multimedia content for the web and social media.
• Knowledge of MS Office.
• Comfortable with new technologies.
• Eager to work within a multicultural and international environment.
• A good team player with a “can-do” attitude.
• Good at multi-tasking and working with strict deadlines.

Location

In-person or remote with one-week full time in Rome, Italy, in May 2023.

Period

Starts as soon as possible for 12 months.

Application Deadline

15 May 2022 (Midnight, CEST)

How to Apply

If you are interested in applying for the position, please send your CV and motivation letter to Dr Marta Lomazzi: marta.lomazzi@wfpha.org

Mental Health a Priority for the Global Healthcare Workforce

The COVID-19 pandemic placed extraordinary pressure on health systems worldwide, and nowhere has this strain been more visible than in the mental health and well-being of healthcare workers. As the world confronts the aftermath of COVID-19 and future public health emergencies, making mental health a priority for healthcare professionals is no longer optional. It is essential for patient safety, workforce sustainability, and health system resilience.

This article provides an evidence-based overview of the mental health challenges faced by healthcare workers during crises, with particular attention to COVID-19. It also outlines practical, organizational, and policy-level actions needed to protect and promote mental well-being in emergencies and in routine care.

A Second Pandemic: Mental Health After COVID-19

While infection rates have declined in many regions, the psychological consequences of the pandemic continue to unfold. Communities worldwide are facing increased trauma, grief, substance use, loneliness, and economic insecurity. Within this broader crisis, healthcare workers are among the most affected groups.

Even before COVID-19, healthcare professionals faced high levels of occupational stress. The pandemic intensified existing vulnerabilities through prolonged workloads, repeated exposure to death and suffering, moral dilemmas, and personal risk of infection. As a result, mental health must be treated as a priority not only during crises but throughout recovery and rebuilding phases.

Stress, Burnout, and Psychological Harm in Healthcare Settings

Healthcare workers are routinely exposed to conditions that elevate psychological risk, including:

• Long working hours and heavy workloads

• Insufficient staffing and limited resources

• Moral conflicts and ethical dilemmas

• Workplace bullying or lack of social support

• Limited control over work environments

These stressors contribute to burnout, anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, and trauma-related symptoms. Burnout, recognized by the WHO as an occupational phenomenon, is characterized by exhaustion, emotional detachment from work, and reduced professional efficacy.

Importantly, burnout not only harms workers. Research consistently links burnout to lower quality of care, increased medical errors, higher absenteeism, staff turnover, and reduced patient satisfaction. Making mental health a priority is therefore directly tied to patient safety and system performance.

Moral Injury and Vicarious Trauma on the Frontlines

Beyond burnout, healthcare workers frequently experience moral injury, a psychological distress resulting from actions (or inaction) that conflict with deeply held moral values. During crises, clinicians may be forced to make life-and-death decisions under resource scarcity, such as rationing ventilators or oxygen.

Moral injury is not itself a mental illness, but it increases vulnerability to depression, PTSD, suicidal ideation, and intentions to leave the profession. Similarly, vicarious traumatization, secondary trauma from empathic engagement with suffering patients, can lead to fatigue, emotional numbness, sleep disturbances, and despair.

Stigma, Silence, and the Risk of Suicide

Despite high levels of distress, many healthcare professionals suffer in silence. Stigma around mental illness, fear of professional consequences, and concerns about licensing or career advancement discourage help-seeking.

Global evidence shows elevated suicide rates among healthcare workers, particularly among women and certain medical specialties. Mental health struggles, burnout, and compassion fatigue are also leading drivers of workforce attrition worldwide. When healthcare workers leave or are lost to suicide, health systems lose irreplaceable skills, experience, and institutional memory.

Mental Health a Priority During Pandemics and Public Health Emergencies

COVID-19 magnified existing risks. Studies across dozens of countries report high prevalence of depression, anxiety, PTSD, sleep disturbances, and emotional exhaustion among healthcare workers during the pandemic. Women, nurses, frontline staff, younger workers, and those in low-resource settings were disproportionately affected.

Similar patterns have been documented during earlier outbreaks, including SARS, MERS, Ebola, and large-scale disasters. The evidence is clear: public health emergencies consistently produce long-lasting psychological harm among healthcare responders, particularly where protections and support systems are weak.

Why Mental Well-Being Is More Than the Absence of Diagnosis

Mental health is not defined solely by diagnosable disorders. Chronic stress, fear of infecting loved ones, overwork, moral conflict, guilt, and exhaustion can severely impair well-being even when diagnostic thresholds are not met.

Large longitudinal studies now underway will provide deeper insights into long-term impacts. However, existing evidence already justifies early intervention, prevention, and sustained support rather than waiting for clinical illness to emerge.

The Role of Self-Care in Sustaining the Workforce

Healthcare professionals are trained to prioritize patients, often at the expense of their own well-being. Yet research consistently shows that self-care is essential for resilience, compassion, and long-term effectiveness.

Effective self-care includes:

• Self-awareness and emotional regulation

• Maintaining sleep, nutrition, and physical activity

• Mindfulness, relaxation, or spiritual practices

• Strong social connections

• Allowing emotional expression rather than suppression

Self-care supports not only individual well-being but also safer, more empathetic, and more sustainable patient care. However, self-care alone is insufficient without organizational and systemic support.

Moving Beyond Symbolic Support to Real Protection

Public displays of gratitude, such as applause or symbolic rewards, offer short-term recognition but do little to address the root causes of distress. Framing healthcare workers as “heroes” may even discourage help-seeking by reinforcing expectations of invulnerability.

What is needed instead are evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies, including:

• Psychological first aid during crises

• Accessible mental health services and self-help programs

• Telemedicine platforms that reduce workload and isolation

• Mindfulness-based stress reduction and resilience training

• Peer support, reflective practice groups, and structured debriefing

Interventions such as WHO’s Self-Help Plus (SH+) demonstrate that scalable, non-diagnostic approaches can significantly reduce psychological distress in high-adversity settings.

Leadership, Culture, and Organizational Responsibility

No mental health strategy will succeed without a supportive workplace culture and leadership. Healthcare leaders must actively reduce stigma, normalize mental health discussions, and foster environments of trust, empathy, and inclusion.

Effective organizational measures include:

• Reasonable limits on shift length and workload

• Mandatory breaks and protected recovery time

• Access to confidential mental health services

• Non-punitive responses to medical errors

• Trauma-informed leadership and supervision

Leadership that acknowledges moral dilemmas and supports ethical reflection plays a critical role in preventing moral injury.

Towards Systemic Change in Healthcare Systems

The pandemic exposed how fragile mental health systems are at precisely the moment they are needed most. Health systems must be redesigned to balance efficiency with humanity, and productivity with sustainability.

Global guidance emphasizes:

• Whole-of-society approaches to mental health

• Investment in long-term mental health infrastructure

• Integration of healthcare workers’ voices through co-production

• Addressing stigma as a systemic issue, not an individual failing

Making mental health a priority requires embedding well-being into policy, financing, workforce planning, and professional standards.

Policy Actions to Make Mental Health a Priority

Evidence supports the following actions:

• Implement long-term, evidence-based mental health programs for healthcare workers

• Ensure adequate staffing levels and fair compensation

• Normalize help-seeking and protect confidentiality

• Actively combat stigma within healthcare institutions

• Involve frontline workers in policy design and decision-making

• Invest in digital and innovative mental health solutions

• Expand research on preparedness and long-term impacts

Conclusion: A Test of Global Commitment

Healthcare workers have carried societies through one of the most disruptive global crises in modern history. Protecting their mental health is not an act of gratitude; it is a responsibility.

Making mental health a priority for healthcare workers strengthens care quality, safeguards patients, and helps health systems withstand future crises. Failure to act carries personal, societal, and economic costs that no system can afford.

End the Genocide of the Yanomami People!

The Genocide of the Yanomami People is unfolding in real time. Indigenous communities in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory (TIY), located on the Brazil–Venezuela border, are facing systemic violence driven by illegal mining, environmental destruction, infectious disease, and the deliberate omission of state protection.

The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA), the Brazilian Association of Collective Health (Abrasco), and the Brazilian Association of Anthropology (ABA) jointly denounce the Brazilian Federal Government’s inaction and collusion in the escalating crisis affecting the Yanomami and Ye’kwana peoples.

What Is Happening in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory?

More than 20,000 illegal gold miners currently occupy and degrade Yanomami territory. Their presence has led to:

• Destruction of forests, rivers, and food systems

• Mercury contamination of water and bodies

• The collapse of community life and traditional livelihoods

• The spread of malaria, COVID-19, and other infectious diseases

Despite repeated warnings, the federal government failed to prevent mining activities, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, when miners became the primary vectors of disease transmission into isolated communities.

Why This Constitutes the Genocide of the Yanomami People

Genocide is not limited to mass killings. It includes the systematic destruction of the conditions necessary for life.

In the case of the Yanomami people, this destruction is evident through:

• Forced exposure to lethal diseases

• Environmental poisoning via mercury contamination

• Dismantling of primary health care systems

• Failure to remove known aggressors from Indigenous land

These conditions have been created and sustained through intentional state inaction, despite decades of evidence and legal obligations.

A History of Repeated Violence and Preventable Deaths

Infrastructure Projects and Epidemics (1970s)

During the construction of the Perimetral Norte (BR-210) highway, infectious diseases killed 22% to 50% of the Yanomami population in affected villages. These deaths were a direct consequence of imposed “development” without protection.

Gold Mining Invasions (1987–1990)

The invasion of miners triggered malaria epidemics and other diseases, killing at least 15% of the Yanomami population. The crisis was contained only after international pressure compelled the government to remove miners and implement an emergency health plan.

The Return of Illegal Mining and Policy Rollback

After nearly two decades of relative control, the deactivation of Funai Protection Bases and reduced territorial monitoring in the late 2000s enabled mining to surge again.

Yanomami and Ye’kwana organizations, including the Hutukara Yanomami Association and the Wanasseduume Ye’kwana Association, have repeatedly reported invasions, violence, and environmental degradation.

Mercury Contamination and Long-Term Health Damage

A 2014 study in the Paapiú and Waikás regions revealed high mercury exposure, particularly among:

• Children

• Women of reproductive age

At that time, approximately 5,000 miners were present. Today, that number has increased nearly fivefold, dramatically expanding contamination zones and health risks.

COVID-19, Malaria, and the Collapse of Indigenous Health Care

Illegal mining accelerated the spread of COVID-19 in the most environmentally degraded regions, Waikás, Kayanau, and Aracaçá, while malaria cases surged.

Between 2019 and 2021, the dismantling of Indigenous primary health care severely weakened the Yanomami Special Indigenous Health District (DSEI-Y), leaving communities without adequate medical response during overlapping epidemics.

Legal Action and Federal Government Omission

In response to COVID-19’s spread into Indigenous territories, the Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) filed ADPF No. 709 with the Federal Supreme Court (STF), which condemned the federal government’s omission.

Analyses presented by Abrasco’s Indigenous Health Working Group confirmed a social and health tragedy caused by the state’s failure to prevent and punish illegal mining.

When ordered to report on nutrition, water access, and health services following the deaths of Yanomami children, the Attorney General’s Office issued an evasive response deflecting responsibility away from federal authorities and onto the victims themselves.

Why Immediate Action Is Non-Negotiable

The Genocide of the Yanomami People is not inevitable. It is politically produced.

The primary drivers of this humanitarian catastrophe—illegal miners—remain in place. Without their removal, no health intervention can succeed.

What Must Happen Now

The WFPHA, Abrasco, and ABA call on the global community to support the urgent demands of the Yanomami and Ye’kwana peoples:

Immediate Measures

• Full removal of illegal miners from Yanomami territory

• Protection of land and waterways from further degradation

Structural Response

• Implementation of a comprehensive Emergency Intersectoral Plan for:

  • Health care

  • Territorial control

  • Environmental protection

This plan must include Indigenous organizations, federal, state, and local governments, judicial bodies, and academic institutions.

Ending the Genocide of the Yanomami People Is a Global Responsibility

What is happening in the Yanomami Indigenous Territory is one of the gravest public health and human rights crises in the world today. Silence and delay are forms of complicity.

Protecting Yanomami life means protecting land, health systems, and Indigenous sovereignty—now, not later.

The genocide must end.

Human Rights Day 2021

On Human Rights Day 2021, we are aware of the persistence of enormous inequities in the world, which are a flagrant disregard for human rights. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic not only revealed these inequalities but also contributed to their exacerbation.

The 2021 United Nations Theme for Human Rights Day is EQUALITY – Reducing inequalities, advancing human rights. The International Federation of Social Workers and World Federation of Public Health Association jointly advance a statement to continue to advocate with the United Nations, governments, companies and civil societies for the promotion of equity and respect for human rights, starting with the equitable distribution of vaccines and guaranteeing the universal right to sustainable development.

First WHO-Recommended Malaria Vaccine: A Milestone in Global Public Health

Malaria is a life-threatening disease with a devastating impact on people’s health worldwide. Despite being preventable and treatable, malaria continues to claim more than 400,000 lives every year, underscoring the urgent need for stronger, more equitable prevention tools.

In 2019 alone, nearly 4 billion people, almost half of the world’s population, were at risk of malaria, with an estimated 229 million cases globally. The disease remains one of the world’s most persistent public health challenges.

The Global Burden of Malaria in Africa

The burden of malaria falls disproportionately on the African continent. In 2019, 94% of all malaria cases and deaths occurred in the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region.

Malaria is a leading cause of childhood illness and death in sub-Saharan Africa. Each year, more than 260,000 African children under the age of five die from malaria, making it one of the deadliest threats to child survival in the region.

The WHO’s Vision for a World Free of Malaria

The WHO’s vision is clear: a world free of malaria. To accelerate progress toward this goal, the WHO introduced the Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016–2030, built around three core pillars:

• Ensuring universal access to malaria prevention, diagnosis, and treatment

• Accelerating efforts toward malaria elimination and attainment of malaria-free status

• Transforming malaria surveillance into a core public health intervention

These pillars are supported by two essential elements: harnessing innovation through research and strengthening enabling health system environments. The WHO urges countries to adopt and expand the implementation of this strategy to prevent malaria deaths and advance elimination.

A Breakthrough Moment for the Malaria Vaccine

In October 2021, the WHO reached a historic milestone by recommending RTS, S/AS01 (RTS,S) as the first malaria vaccine for widespread use among children.

The malaria vaccine is recommended for children living in areas with moderate to high transmission of Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest malaria parasite globally and the most prevalent in Africa.

How the RTS,S Malaria Vaccine Works

The RTS,S malaria vaccine:

• Requires a four-dose regimen

• Is administered starting from five months of age

• Has been shown to significantly reduce malaria cases and deadly severe malaria among young children

The WHO reports that even in real-world, high-impact childhood vaccination settings, the malaria vaccine reduces severe malaria by approximately 30%, including in areas where insecticide-treated nets are widely used and access to diagnosis and treatment is strong.

Evidence from the WHO Malaria Vaccine Pilot Program

The WHO recommendation was based on results from an ongoing WHO-coordinated pilot program, led by the Ministries of Health of Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi.

Since 2019, the program has:

• Vaccinated more than 800,000 children

• Demonstrated the feasibility, safety, and public health impact of the malaria vaccine when delivered through routine immunization systems

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, stated:

“Using this vaccine on top of existing tools to prevent malaria could save tens of thousands of young lives each year.”

Regulatory and Scientific Milestones

RTS,S is currently the only malaria vaccine to:

• Complete a Phase 3 clinical trial

• Receive a positive scientific opinion from the European Medicines Agency

In October 2021, the WHO shared detailed data from the pilot program and outlined the next steps to integrate the malaria vaccine into broader malaria control strategies worldwide.

The WFPHA Position on the Malaria Vaccine

The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA), through its International Immunization Policy Taskforce, strongly applauds global efforts to control and eliminate malaria.

The WFPHA Commends:

• The WHO for its leadership in malaria elimination

• The Ministries of Health in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi for their commitment to the malaria vaccine pilot program

• Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria; and Unitaid for financing the pilot initiative

The WFPHA Recommendations for Global Malaria Vaccine Rollout

To ensure the malaria vaccine reaches those who need it most, the WFPHA recommends:

• Immediate use of the malaria vaccine once fully approved by the WHO scientific bodies

• Development of targeted campaigns to promote vaccine uptake

• Sustained financing to ensure equitable access and affordability worldwide

• Robust AEFI (Adverse Events Following Immunization) surveillance as distribution scales

• Ongoing funding aligned with Universal Health Coverage principles

• Continued research and development of more cost-effective and efficacious malaria vaccines, including technologies emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic

• Prioritization of populations in countries with the least resources

A New Hope in the Fight Against Malaria

The first WHO-recommended malaria vaccine represents a turning point in global public health. When used alongside existing malaria prevention and treatment tools, it offers new hope for saving children’s lives, reducing inequities, and accelerating progress toward malaria elimination.

Malaria remains a preventable tragedy. The malaria vaccine is not a standalone solution, but it is a powerful, evidence-based addition to the global fight against one of humanity’s oldest and deadliest diseases.