Abstract:
Many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) grapple with shortages of health workers,
a crucial component of robust health systems. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the
imperative for appropriate staffing of health systems and the occupational health (OH)
threats to health workers. Issues related to accessibility, coverage, and utilization of OH
services in public sector health facilities within LMICs were particularly accentuated during
the pandemic. This paper draws on the observations and experiences of researchers
engaged in an international collaboration to consider how the South African concept of
Ubuntu provides a promising way to understand and address the challenges encountered
in establishing and sustaining OH services in public sector health facilities. Throughout
the COVID-19 pandemic, the collaborators actively participated in implementing and
studying OH and infection prevention and control measures for health workers in South
Africa and internationally as part of the World Health Organizations’ Collaborating
Centres for Occupational Health. The study identified obstacles in establishing, providing,
maintaining and sustaining such measures during the pandemic. These challenges were
attributed to lack of leadership/stewardship, inadequate use of intelligence systems for
decision-making, ineffective health and safety committees, inactive trade unions, and
the strain on occupational health professionals who were incapacitated and overworked.
These shortcomings are, in part, linked to the absence of the Ubuntu philosophy in
implementation and sustenance of OH services in LMICs.
