CGHSR Director Presents on Health Care Workforce Development at UN General Assembly

Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility Executive Director Shailey Prasad, MD, MPH, speaks at an auxiliary session at the United Nations General Assembly in September. 

Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility Executive Director and Associate Vice President for Global and Rural Health Shailey Prasad, MD, MPH, spoke at a United Nations General Assembly auxiliary session in September to promote health care workforce development.

Prasad’s presentation emphasized the role of Primary Health Care (PHC) in creating systems that provide a holistic view of health and wellness. Prasad spoke to an audience of 100-plus during his presentation on Sept. 22 in New York City.

The United Nations General Assembly is the main policy-making body of the United Nations.

“In the conversation about Universal Health Care (UHC), there is a recognition that we need to build health systems to take care of all people in all communities. It’s not targeting one community or one disease,” said Prasad.

“To achieve UHC, building health systems becomes important, and systems with a strong PHC focus are very important.”

Prasad’s talk was attended by various country delegations, health care researchers, World Health Organization representatives and members of nongovernmental organizations. Representatives from more than two dozen countries were in attendance.

Prasad was representing the World Organization of the National Chapters and Associations of Family Medicine.

Prasad is a founding member of the Global Engagement Network for Primary Health Care (GEN-PHC), which has created a three-part framework — focused on physician workforce development, the healthcare market and health policy — to advance PHC.