Implementing World Health Assembly Resolution 60.26 'Global Plan of Action for Workers' Health 2008-2017' NIOSH/WHO Cooperative Agreement 2014-2016 Project summary The 60th World Health Assembly in 2007 endorsed the Global Plan of Action on Workers' Health (GPA) for the period 2008-2017 to provide a political framework for development of policies, infrastructure, technologies and partnerships for achieving a basic level of workplace health protection by the 194 Member States. The purpose of this collaborative agreement is to leverage the capacities of WHO to implement key actions of the GPA for strengthening the capacities of national health systems to respond to the specific health needs of workers. The project aims to develop effective instruments for policies and scaling up the access of workers to health services, to create effective tools for protection of health in the workplace, and to establish a global observatory with statistical information to monitor workers' health. The project will achieve these objectives through three groups of interventions. Health systems and services for workers' health will be strengthened through developing a guide for devising national action plans and profiles for workers' health, methodology for measuring access of working people to health services for prevention and control of occupation and work-related diseases and injuries, materials for training of primary health care providers in addressing workers' health needs, and providing guidance for early detection of occupational diseases. The protection and promotion of health in the workplace will be enhanced through providing guidance and a resource package of tools and training materials for the establishment of healthy workplace programmes in small enterprises and informal worksites as well as through increasing awareness and use of international norms and standards for health protection in workplaces. The monitoring of workers' health will be improved through development of a global gateway to statistics for workers' health, studying the health impacts of selected occupational risks, and developing indicators for measuring and monitoring workers' health at the global, regional and national level. Ultimately, the project is expected to significantly enhance the capacities of WHO to provide leadership of international action regarding the health of workers and to strengthen its collaboration with US NIOSH. The results will be assessed through an inter-country survey in 2017, and reported to the World Health Assembly in 2018.
This project will enhance key capacities of the World Health Organization's Global Occupational Health Programme to implement World Health Assembly Resolution 60.26 'Workers' Health: Global Plan of Action' by providing leadership of the international action for protecting and promoting the health of workers in collaboration with international partners. The project will provide guidance to low-income countries for devising national policies and for improving the access of workers to basic health services for prevention and control of occupational and work-related diseases and injuries. It will also conceive tools for developing healthy workplaces and for monitoring the health of workers worldwide.
