In a workshop held at the faculties of medical professions (Nursing, Pharmacy and Medicine), several recommendations related to health and sanitary areas were issued. The participants included the Deans of the various health professions taught at An-Najah, faculty members, representatives from the Ministry of Health, professional associations, the private sector and the Head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Office in Palestine. Dr. Ansam Sawalha, Director of the organizing committee, opened the workshop by welcoming all the attendants and reminding them that the World Health Day is among the most important events on the calendar and has taken place annually since 1950.
This is the first year An-Najah National University joins the world in this celebration. The WHO is the agency which founded this day and every year the WHO decides the theme for that year. On this occasion it has been celebrated under the theme of "Working together for health" to highlight the importance of the people who work in the medical and health professions. This emphasizes their contribution to human health, determining the problems challenging health care workers and to find solutions to them. The health sector encounters many problems including a shortage in human resources that affects the performance of the health services offered.
Dr. Fathi Abu Moghli, Representative of WHO, thanked the University for holding the event and talked about the shortage in health care workers the world currently faces, and the problems resulting from the insufficient training and education that such workers receive during and after their academic years. Other problems include migration of professionals and improper work conditions.
The preparations for the World Health Day were taken care of by the Nursing, Pharmacy and Medicine faculties. Several workshops were held at the above mentioned faculties in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the professional associations for nursing, pharmacy and medicine. Hospital representatives and other universities also participated in the workshops, which were developed around two major themes. The first one was determining the problems in health education in Palestine and the proposal of solutions. The second one was regarding the problems challenging professional health workers and the suggestions they have for remedies.
The last workshop was the one held on the World Health Day, during which all professions met together in order to decide on the common problems they encounter and the best methods to solve them. Several recommendations were made, among which we mention the importance of preparing highly qualified health professionals by investing more in their education and training. Also it was suggested that the work environment becomes safer for health care professionals, applying the law and ensuring the safety of the health workers. With the currently employed health workers it was proposed that more investment is needed and that there should be a certain amount of job rotation in order to get wider job knowledge and experience. Experts insisted on the need of establishing more health education centres and installing technology in this regard. They stressed the importance of offering better conditions to health workers in terms of salaries, insurance, training and raised a call in favor of the creation of a Palestinian Health Council.