By Nupur Kudapkar
COVID-19 has taken over our lives but in front of the battlefield, we see our nurses and doctors risking their lives and their families’ safety every day to help and protect us. “The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded all of us of the vital role health workers play to relieve suffering and save lives,’ said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, “no country, hospital or clinic can keep its patients safe unless it keeps its health workers safe” (WHO).
Health care employees are exactly like the rest of us. They’ve been working in difficult settings, particularly in the last year. They are not made of miracles. They do not have superhuman abilities like never sleeping or being immune to sickness. They are genuine individuals you’re dealing with. They are people with families, interests, and needs, both within and outside of the workplace. If there’s one thing that the year 2020 has taught us, it’s that health workers are critical to our survival. But we rarely ask, “What is crucial to health care workers during the pandemic?” Fair and reasonable housing, consistent wages, frequent training, masks, gloves, and other personal protection equipment are just a few of the things they require to execute their jobs properly. They require protection as well as mental health and burnout assistance. They also require helpful bosses and effective managers, as well as access to the appropriate technologies. That is why, because it isn’t just physicians, we look at the entire health workforce and the entire health system. To combat sickness, for example, you can’t merely focus on drugs. Medicines and drugs are necessary. We’re all ecstatic that we now have these incredible COVID-19 immunizations. However, everyone is so focused on the vaccination that no one is talking about the people who will be required to provide it. We’re talking about a gigantic worldwide vaccination deployment that will be the largest and fastest the world has ever seen. Today, there are 7.8 billion of us on the planet. Who’s going to be the one to unleash all those shots? More nurses, midwives, and community health workers will be needed, and they will need to be available and dispatched to every city and village on the planet. No amount of goods can help us succeed if we don’t have the appropriate people in place. All health workers are needed: nurses, lab technicians, IT professionals, drivers, cleaners, advocates, clinicians, etc. And they’re all necessary. We need to invest in them, for our future (VITAL).