The drive to help save lives, to contribute something bigger, to support last-mile patients, and to end health inequity; these are some of the motivating factors health experts listed when asked why they chose to work in global health.
Yet the numerous challenges the global community faces in delivering health care — be it via a medical practice, pharmaceutical company, or health-focused NGO — don’t make those goals easy to achieve.
At Champions of Change: Investing in Next Gen Global Health Leadership — an event co-hosted by pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Amref Health Africa, and Devex — global health leaders gathered to discuss the importance of investing in the next generation of global health trailblazers and what it means amid new and emerging health challenges. On the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, young leaders and current champions of change unpacked how climate change is creating a more complex health landscape, the continued global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on both individuals and health systems, and how increasing conflicts are jeopardizing access to basic health services.
“Every conflict today is a protracted conflict. Every conflict today we know will [result in] decades for a system to recover and for a return to normalcy,” Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, told the room in her opening remarks.
It’s against this backdrop that many countries face an urgent shortage of health care workers — the World Health Organization estimates there will be a deficit of 10 million health workers by 2030, mostly in low- and middle-income contexts — and systems in various parts of the world are buckling due to the limited resources and lack of funding. “We need drivers, we need surgeons, we need physiotherapists, we need social workers, we need computer scientists, we need social scientists who will help us to provide aid quicker,” Spoljaric said.
Additionally, speakers highlighted issues concerning gender inequity, siloed thinking, and a reticence to think outside of the box.
So how can the next generation of global health leaders move forward in a way that advances both their individual aspirations and Sustainable Development Goal 3 on health and well-being for all by 2030?
In a series of armchair conversations at Pfizer headquarters in New York City, current leaders shared the challenges they’re seeing in the global health sector, how this is affecting the workforce, and advice for the next generation of global health champions. Here are three key takeaways from those conversations.
1. Training current and future health workforce needs to be prioritized
The needs of people and the health challenges of today are rapidly changing, meaning the expertise and skill base of health care providers also need to change and adapt, explained Dr. Githinji Gitahi, global CEO of Amref Health Africa.
For example, adolescent health was not an area of study when Gitahi attended medical school, but as the global population of youth continues to grow to surpass all others, the needs and challenges of this specific group require expertise. At 1.8 billion, there are more adolescents in the world than ever before, according to WHO. They face unique challenges related to mental health, substance abuse, as well as sexual and reproductive health and rights.
At the same time, the world is seeing a rise in noncommunicable diseases and mental health disorders, as well as health ramifications from climate events, Gitahi said.
Malaria, for example, is now spreading in areas previously not affected as rising temperatures allow mosquitoes to survive in new locations. The same is happening with snakes and certain communities may not have the anti-venom or the right expertise to respond because they haven’t historically been an issue, explained Gitahi. “Health is the face of the climate crisis,” he added.
This evolving and nuanced context means that training and upskilling the next generation, as well as current health care professionals, needs to be prioritized, particularly in new areas in order to guarantee the highest level of care possible.
2. Partnerships will be key to the next generation’s progress
Whether it be COVID-19 or cholera, the various diseases that threaten the planet can feel insurmountable to an individual or even a company, but when teaming up with others, real progress can be generated and accelerated, said Dr. Albert Bourla, chairman and CEO of Pfizer.
“When it comes to global health, you can [only] do so much yourself,” he said, adding that this also applies to science and the development of health innovations. That’s why Pfizer partnered with biotechnology company BioNTech for the development of its COVID-19 vaccine. “No one can tackle such complex issues alone.”
This, he said, was a key lesson from the pandemic; collaboration meant that a vaccine was produced quicker than it otherwise would have been. “Diseases don’t wait. The ability to deliver [a vaccine] earlier [determined] whether the world would reopen or be destroyed the way we knew it,” he said.
Going forward, that same openness to partnering needs to be applied to other health challenges, Bourla said.
3. Invest in technology and the young people using it
In a sector where staff shortages are rampant, technology such as artificial intelligence will be, and already is, a critical factor in building resilience into health care systems, said Gitahi. “We have seen that technology creates resilience because it creates the ability to read data, to understand, and also to read the future,” he said, highlighting the potential of mobile technology and data systems to make diagnosis, treatment, and care faster and more tailored to each patient.
As an example, he shared how a 21-year-old community health worker in Tanzania identified a number of unusual deaths in their community and used an event-based disease surveillance system to input information concerning the deaths. This triggered a fast government response and a team was sent to investigate the issue. It turned out to be an outbreak of the Marburg disease.
Despite the many upsides, there are risks with using technology in the health space and these need to be mitigated. Gitahi called on the sector to address issues around data protection and privacy by thinking about “people and the last mile first … when you start there, the first mile will always get served,” he said.
On that same note, Solange Mbaye, regional program manager of the Amref West Africa Hub, shared how young people need to be seen as collaborators in health initiatives and “no longer as beneficiaries.”
“It’s not about me taking your job but adding value,” she said, noting that the field is moving so fast that the sector “can’t afford to leave young people behind.” With that in mind, health professionals need to be trained in how to work effectively with young people, not just the other way around, she said.
Be ambitious, be humble, and set the bar high, Bourla urged, adding that working in health, after all, is a “noble cause.”
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