Invest in health workforce to win global fight against NCDs, says WHPA

25 September 2025
UNHLM UNGA80

The World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA) is warning governments that commitments made at the UN High-Level Meeting (HLM) on Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) and Mental Health will fail unless countries urgently invest in their health workforce. Leaders from WHPA member organizations are attending the 4th HLM on NCDs taking place at UN Headquarters in New York on 25 September 2025 (see WHPA news item).

The health workforce is the most essential multiplier for achieving the aims of the Political Declaration signed at the HLM. Governments must make concrete commitments to strategic investment plans for the health workforce as they implement the Declaration, including funding for professional education and improved working conditions for health professionals throughout the continuum of health services: health promotion, illness and injury prevention, disease management and cure, and rehabilitation.

The scale of the challenge is stark. Each year, 43 million people die from NCDs—accounting for more than 75% of deaths worldwide. At the same time, the World Health Organization (WHO) projects a global shortage of 11 million health workers by 2030, posing a critical threat to health systems’ ability to provide essential NCD care and prevention.

“High-quality care delivered by health professionals is one of the most cost-effective strategies to meet the needs of people living with or at risk of NCDs and mental health conditions. Without serious investment in health professionals, countries simply will not be able to deliver on primary health care (PHC) and universal health coverage (UHC) for NCDs,” said Dr. Otmar Kloiber, Chair of WHPA and Secretary General of the World Medical Association (WMA).

WHPA also emphasizes the need for interprofessional collaboration in responding to noncommunicable diseases. These conditions require a comprehensive range of services—including health promotion, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care—which is most effectively delivered through multi-disciplinary teams (MTDs) of qualified and regulated health professionals.

WHPA calls on governments and stakeholders implementing the HLM’s Political Declaration to:

  • Enable interprofessional collaboration following guidance in the newly updated WHPA Statement on Interprofessional Collaborative Practice.
  • Invest in education, recruitment and retention of health professionals.
  • Address the commercial determinants of health through proven, evidence-based policies, such as taxes on health-harming foods and drinks.
  • Ensure the voices of health professionals and people with lived experience are heard in health policy making.