Health Worker Vaccination Programs in Low, Middle and Upper Middle-Income Countries: A Review

Health workers are at risk of contracting vaccine-preventable diseases while caring for patients and communities. Immunization against commonly encountered pathogens is an effective strategy to protect them. Depending on country-specific circumstances, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends health workers be vaccinated against tuberculosis (BCG), hepatitis B, polio, diphtheria, measles, rubella, meningococcal, influenza, varicella, pertussis, and COVID-19. However, vaccination coverage amongst health workers in low-income, lower-middle-income, and upper-middle-income countries (LIC, LMIC, and UMIC, respectively) is notably low when compared to higher-income countries. While there may be several reasons for the lower rates of coverage, one could be the lack of programs and policies to vaccinate health workers in LIC and LMIC.

In a recent article by the researchers at the WFPHA, they reviewed the current published data referencing national vaccination policies and programs for LIC, LMIC, and UMIC to understand the programs that are already in place, review the enablers and barriers to health workers vaccination programs, and inform policymakers as they plan for a post COVID-19 health system.

According to the article, the current literature concerning routine vaccination of health workers in low and middle-income countries predominantly emphasized the hepatitis B antigen, with influenza, measles, rubella, and mumps being the subsequent focus. With considerable variability by vaccine and country, in most cases, the vaccination was not offered free to health workers or included in a regular vaccination schedule.

According to the article, economic support for vaccination such as free access to vaccines, vaccines and supplies donated by manufacturers or funded by public-private partnerships, as well as effective management of the vaccination programs such as using existing Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) infrastructure, and a robust institutional framework to offer vaccines to health workers, were key facilitators to vaccinating health workers. Lack of awareness and inefficient communication, such as lack of education on vaccines or awareness of availability, lack of funds, difficult access to (i.e., lack of time and/or opportunity to receive vaccines), and lack of vaccines themselves, as well as a lack of baseline data on antigen prevalence rates among health workers, were key barriers to vaccinating health workers.

According to the article, better optimization of available programs and structures developed during the COVID-19 pandemic may be a first step when complemented by effective communication to raise awareness and create a standard of care, whereby health workers vaccination is seen as an integral part of employment safety and occupational health. Comprehensive coverage of health workers against vaccine-preventable diseases is not only a right for workers but also a key element in ensuring that their intervention in health facilities and communities is safe for all.

Internship Opportunity with WFPHA

The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) is currently looking for 2 interns.

WFPHA offers a unique environment for an internship for students in international health and development. Interns are given substantial responsibility for performing activities such as researching and writing articles, establishing contact with health and development NGOs around the world, planning international conferences, and fundraising. Each internship is structured to suit the needs and interests of the intern, such as working on an individual research assignment, as well as the requirements of WFPHA.

During the course of the internship, interns will further develop their writing and research skills and become more familiar with the key issues and actors in international health and development. They will have extensive networking opportunities as WFPHA is an international NGO in official relations with WHO, and has extensive contacts with other organizations worldwide.

Qualification and Experience

• Master student or graduate degree in the area of International Relations or health-related faculties.
• Knowledge of MS Office and Adobe.
• Excellent command of English and French.
• Good writing skills.
• 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.

Modality

The intern will work fully remotely.

Compensation

The internship is unpaid but is intended to serve as a career-building opportunity for an early-career academic.

The organization does not cover re-location expenses and does not sponsor international student visas.

Period

Starts as soon as possible for a minimum of 3 months. The internship may be part-time or full-time.

Application Deadline

August 25, 2023

How to Apply

If you are interested in applying for the internship, please send your CV to Razieh Azari: Razieh.azari@wfpha.org

Allocating Sustainable Funding for Resilient Health Systems: A Distant Dream?

The lack of alignment between the economic and healthcare worlds results in an inadequate strategy for sustainable healthcare investments. Numerous decisions affecting health outcomes are made outside the health sector and health budgets, encompassing areas such as transportation, land use planning, and the environment.

On September 18, 2023, at 10:00 (CEST), esteemed speakers from various sectors and regions participated in a comprehensive dialogue, delving into the topic, showcasing real-life examples, and exchanging best practices concerning the effective distribution of budgets across different sectors. The aim is to inspire policymakers and public health professionals globally.

This webinar is available to view by clicking on the link below.

The Alliance of Public Health Associations of the Americas: New Board Members

WFPHA congratulates the new elected board members of the Alliance of the Public Health Associations of the Americas (AASPA), Anulfo Lopez as President, Rosana Onocko as Vice-President, and Fernando Sacoto as Acting Director. WFPHA is looking forward to continuing the fruitful collaboration with the new leadership of AASPA.

Public Health and Emergency Workforce Roadmap: The Third Steering Committee Meeting

In the historic setting of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), the third World Health Organization (WHO) Public Health and Emergency Workforce Roadmap Steering Committee meeting took place on July 6 – 7, 2023, in Rome. The Committee considered and endorsed new guidance and tools for countries.

More than 75 members of the Roadmap Steering Committee and Technical Advisory Groups have dedicated several months to reviewing and revising the three interconnected core areas of the Roadmap: Revising the Essential Public Health Functions (EPHFs), Competency-Based Public Health Education, and Measuring the Public Health Workforce, which were presented during this meeting. A general consensus has been reached on the readiness of these documents for release after final coordination editing.

The focus will now shift to implementing the three sections of the Roadmap, aiming to utilize these tools in 100 countries by 2024. Two additional WHO working groups will provide communication and coordination support.

Detailed discussions were held on the training of future generations of professionals involved in public health and emergency response, with a particular emphasis on the tasks performed by public health experts. This highlighted the local knowledge and skills required by students and early-career professionals. Early-career public health professionals have the potential to benefit from the revised and redesigned education framework and play a pivotal role in disseminating the EPHFs.

The WFPHA has endorsed the Roadmap and is actively involved in and supporting this work through the WFPHA Public Health Professionals’ Education and Training (PET) Working Group. The Roadmap subgroup on competency-based education is co-chaired by Dr Priscilla Robinson, Co-Chair of the PET Working Group.

Young WFPHA will contribute by identifying and supporting existing and emerging links between the Roadmap and its young audience in order to bolster the remarkable work accomplished so far.

The Roadmap stems from the 2021 Declaration of the G-20 Health Ministers, under the Italian G-20 presidency, which recognized the “importance of investing in and protecting an adequate and well-trained health workforce and community-based health services, addressing a global shortage, increasing productive capacities to meet needs in the face of health risks and emergencies, as well as insufficient human resource capacity at national and local levels.”

Why Health is Public: Insights from the 17th National Health Conference in Brazil

The 17th National Health Conference takes place in Brasilia from July 2–5. The Executive Director of the WFPHA, Prof. Bettina Borisch, takes part in this event.

The Conference gathers 6,000 participants and is one of the country’s most important on public health. The main theme of the Conference is “Defend the Single Health System (SUS), Life and Democracy – Tomorrow Will be Another Day”. To understand, the SUS is the Brazilian health care system that is public and offers Universal Health Coverage to all Brazilians.

The Conference is organized by the National Health Council (CNS) and the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Health Councils exist at the municipal, state, and federal levels. Delegates to these councils are patients, academics, health professionals, and minority groups. They are elected to represent the needs of the population concerning “their” health care system. This is a democratic representation that links citizens, users, to their health care system. Over four days, panel discussions, debates, and working groups are held to come to final resolutions. Prof. Borisch points out that “this is a great and sometimes difficult way for citizens to have real participation and ownership in their health care system. There is a strong will in the audience to defend the SUS. It seemed to me that the will was even stronger now that there was a change in government away from the previous right-wing, neoliberal president. It was also felt that the intimate link that exists between a healthy life for all and democracy was understood.”

Prof. Borisch also points out that “such a process is not without difficulties, but health has to be a public affair, an affair of all. Everywhere we have to find ways to render health public, it is the finest task of public health professionals. Health and disease are very individual, and so we will have to embrace the diversity of demands of groups, minorities, and subgroups without, at the same time, guaranteeing the right to health to all.”

“The Conference was a showcase of all these aspects. A vibrant and multicolored crowd that, with all their voices and wishes, transmitted the feeling that health in Brazil is a public affair. We could all learn from Brazil as to how render health an active part of our democracies,” she mentions. Or to cite Health Minister Nísia Trindade Lima, who speaks at the Conference: “One of the first acts of the Ministry of Health was a meeting with the CNS to bring back social participation”.

The Conference takes place every four years. It is an important space for dialogue between government and society for the construction of public health policies.