Investing In Global Health Workforce Vital To Maintain U.S., Global Security

STAT: Global health is an investment we can’t afford to pass up
Vanessa Kerry, CEO and cofounder of Seed Global Health

“…The huge differences between health care in the developed world and the developing world are due, in part, to the particularly dire shortage of health care workers. … With health care challenges of our own, why should Americans worry about this global gap? Because it is also important for us here at home. Better health — and basic health care — in other countries is important for global security. Stopping an epidemic at its origin, while also the right thing to do, is the most cost-effective means to prevent disease here. … My organization, Seed Global Health, aims to improve global health by addressing the shortages in trained health care workers in sub-Saharan Africa. We bring in U.S. health professionals when a crisis hits, and also to have them deliver care as needed. A more important strategy is to have these U.S. health professionals help create a self-sustaining pipeline of doctors, midwives, and nurses in the countries that need them the most. … By growing and supporting a robust global health workforce through programs like ours and many others, we have the chance to build on our nation’s great legacy of improving the lives and livelihoods of the world’s most vulnerable people. … For the U.S., the returns on investing in global health are a bargain that cannot be ignored” (2/22).

The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.

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