Updating medicina del lavoro Statement – UN HLM on Universal Health Coverage

Updating medicina del lavoro Statement – Union Nation High- Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (September 23 2019). 

Online first published on offical webpage: High Level Meeting Statements on UHC – On 23 September 2019, the President of the General Assembly convened the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (here available also in pdf format).

 Thank you Chair and thank you everybody here.

 This is an honour for me.

 As stated by SDGs [1], point 38 and others from the political declaration [2], it seems to be essential global implementation, strengthening and involvement of occupational health services (OHS) in order to achieve Universal Health Coverage promoting equality.

 In less developed countries it is necessary to include no cost access to OHS as a minimal health standard in each context and territory [3] thanks to the well-known experience about occupational and other health actions at workplace on small homogeneous group of workers and on local communities and leaders. Regular and close relationship between “ethical” [4] occupational physicians and Local Health Services can surely help in prevention and health promotion campaigns eliminating disparities [5,6,7,8,9,10,11] .

 In developed countries OHS can contain occupational and resurgent poverty diseases and it can improve social inclusion for immigrants, marginalized, discriminated and all vulnerable workers [12].

 In order to achieve these objectives it is surely necessary the political will and the legislative support but it is also urgent to reinforce the health workforce globally [23].

 Thank you [*].

Lucio Fellone MD (lucio.fellone@gmail.com) –
Coordinator of Updating medicina del lavoro

References (here in pdf format)

  1. UN Official website, Sustainable Development Goals – About the Sustainable Development Goals (1,3,5,8,9,10,11,12). https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals(accessed 11 September 2019).
  2. Letter on the political declaration to be approved at the High-level meeting on Universal health coverage [10 September 2019] https://www.un.org/pga/73/wp-content/uploads/sites/53/2019/09/UHC-HLM-silence-procedure.pdf (accessed 11 September 2019)
  3. UHC2030, Moving Together to Build a Healthier World Key Asks from the UHC Movement, UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage – Key ask 2, Leave No One Behind – Pursue equity in access to quality health services with financial protection. https://www.uhc2030.org/fileadmin/uploads/uhc2030/Documents/UN_HLM/UHC_Key_Asks_final.pdf (accessed 11 September 2019)
  4. International Code of Ethics for Occupational Health Professionals http://www.icohweb.org/site_new/multimedia/core_documents/pdf/code_ethics_eng_2012.pdfInternational Commission on Occupational Health © 2012 ICOH (accessed 10 September 2019)
  5. Gardner E (2015) Healthy settings. In: Nutland W, Cragg L Health Promotion Practice Open University Press.
  6. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Total Worker Health (website) https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/twh/default.html (accessed 10 September 2019).
  7. WHO/WEF. Preventing non-communicable diseases in the workplace through diet and physical activity – WHO/World Economic Forum Report of a Joint Event. World Health Organization (2008). http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2008/9789241596329_eng.pdf?ua=1 (accessed 10 September 2019)
  1. Sorensen G, McLellan D, Dennerlein JT, Pronk et all. Integration of health protection and health promotion: rationale, indicators, and metrics. J Occup Environ Med. 2013 Dec;55(12 Suppl):S12-8. doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000000032.
  2. Quintiliani L, Sattelmair J, and Sorensen G.The workplace as a setting for interventions to improve diet and promote physical activity. A background paper prepared for the WHO/WEF Joint Event on Preventing Noncommunicable Diseases in the Workplace. Dalian/ China.WHO, 2007.
  3. Nutbeam D (2013) Using theory to guiding changes at the individual level. In: Cragg L, Davies M, Macdowall W Health Promotion Theory (2nd Eds) Open University Press.
  4. Cragg L, Fletcher A, Nutland W (2015) Multi-level interventions and programmes in health promotion. In: Nutland W, Cragg L Health Promotion Practice Open University Press.
  5. United Nation A/RES/72/139, Global health and foreign policy: addressing the health of the most vulnerable for an inclusive society. 2017 https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/1468859/files/A_RES_72_139-EN.pdf (accessed 10 September 2019)
  6. Letter on the political declaration to be approved at the High-level meeting on Universal health coverage – Point 23 [10 September 2019] https://www.un.org/pga/73/wp-content/uploads/sites/53/2019/09/UHC-HLM-silence-procedure.pdf (accessed 11 September 2019)

* Special thanks for the inspiration to Occupational Medicine Prof. Giuseppe Battista and Dr. Francesco Loi.

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