Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) Manager Mr. Shunichiro Kurita participated in a panel discussion at WKC Forum 2022, which was hosted by WHO Kobe Centre and titled, “Reconsidering the Roles of Healthcare Professionals Who Support the Foundation of the Health Insurance System.”

Based on “The WHO Global Strategic Directions For Nursing And Midwifery (2021-2025) ” which was presented by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2021 (and translated into Japanese by the National Center for Global Health and Medicine in 2022), this forum was held with the goal of sharing best practices and case studies from responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been ongoing since 2020.

Among the four pillars of the Global Strategy Directions, namely education, jobs, leadership, and service delivery, Mr. Kurita focused on jobs. He discussed the need for work style reform for all healthcare professionals, the significant and growing roles of nursing professionals outside of healthcare institutions, the best ways of securing diverse financial resources for improving compensation for healthcare professionals, and the importance of fostering social consensus to do so.

Other speakers at the panel discussion are listed below.
Panelists (titles omitted):
Akiko Williamson (Deputy Director, Kobe University Hospital)
Erika Ota (Professor of Global Health Nursing, Graduate School of Nursing Science, St. Luke’s International University; Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing Development in Primary Care, St. Luke’s International University)
Yuito Okada (Epidemiologist, University of Hawaii Cancer Center)
Shunichiro Kurita (Manager, HGPI)
Yoshihiro Takayama (Physician, Department of Infectious Disease, Okinawa Chubu Hospital)
Teruo Yamashita (Director of Health and Medical Care, Hyogo Prefecture)

Chairpersons:
Toyomitsu Tamura (Director, Division of Public Relations and Communications, Department of Human Resources Development, Bureau of International Health Cooperation, National Center for Global Health and Medicine)
Sonoe Mashino (Professor, Research Institute of Nursing Care for People and Community, University of Hyogo; Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Disaster Risk Management for Health, University of Hyogo)

Please note that a report showing the event is viewable for a limited time on the WHO Kobe Centre website below.
https://extranet.who.int/kobe_centre/ja/news/WKCF_HCW

*Available only in Japanese