Frontline health workers are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response but for too long health workers have largely been taken for granted.
Yet, of all the factors delaying access to COVID-19 testing, treatment, and care, health workforce challenges are the most cited bottleneck, according to a WHO survey of 129 countries.
Only 14% of community health workers in Africa are salaried, with many considered “volunteers,” part of the broader injustice of women’s care labor not being compensated.
COVID-19 has shown this is not just theoretical.