WFSA council member Prof Patricia Yazbeck (Lebanon) addressed the 71st WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Committee meeting on the need to prioritise anaesthesia as a means to realise Universal Health Coverage and ensure health security.
Agenda Item 2f: Building resilient health systems to advance universal health coverage and ensure health security in the Eastern Mediterranean Region
Effective anaesthesia services are critical to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and ensuring strong emergency, critical, and operative care systems that are integral to a resilient healthcare system. Central to this resilience is the integration of essential anaesthesia services into a primary healthcare approach.
Anaesthesiologists’ expertise in critical care, pain management, and perioperative medicine makes them invaluable to both routine healthcare delivery and emergency response.
Unfortunately, chronic underinvestment in anaesthesia services and a shortfall in trained physician anaesthesiologists risks the ability of health services across our region to realise UHC and lasting health security.
The World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) urges Member States to prioritize and strengthen anaesthesia services as part of their efforts to build resilient health systems.
We urge member states to prioritize investments in anaesthesia services, including the training and retention of skilled anaesthesiologists. We call for improved access to essential equipment and medications that anaesthesia professionals need to ensure that surgical, emergency and critical care is safe, effective and available to all.
Engaging anaesthesiologists in leadership can enhance coordination, improve resource allocation, and strengthen regional health systems’ capacity to deliver safe surgical and critical care.
The WFSA and its national member societies stand ready to support the WHO and member states with the robust anaesthesia services needed for resilient health systems capable of advancing UHC and safeguarding health security in the region.