Doctors urge reduction of burnout as Enabulele emerges WMA president

There is an urgent need to invest in the wellbeing, working and living conditions of physicians and other health professionals, the new President of the World Medical Association, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, has said.  

In his inaugural address at the WMA’s annual Assembly in Berlin, Enabulele, who is a former President of the Nigerian Medical Association and Commonwealth Medical Association, said this would “help reduce or eliminate physical and mental burn-out of physicians, and the brain drain of physicians and other health professionals, especially from already under-served countries.”

He added that “coming from an under-represented and poorly understood African continent that is largely deprived of quality healthcare”, he considered his election as WMA President as an opportunity to enhance the well-being, rights and professional autonomy of physicians across the globe, and to strengthen countries’ healthcare systems through universal health coverage, the Sustainable Development Goals and the mitigation of the effects of climate change.

According to him, the safety of physicians and other health care providers was one of the four key lessons that the world and the medical profession should learn from the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that the other three were the need to build resilient health systems, human resources for health and the public communication and engagement of physicians.

Enabulele said that in building resilient health systems, the WMA had to continue to champion the need for global solidarity in health, equitable access to vaccines and drug treatments, including their research and development, and appropriate investment in health systems.

“The WMA should be an untiring advocate of global public health interventions to reduce or eliminate the staggering health inequities and inequalities, across the globe,” he added.

The retiring WMA President, Dr. Heidi Stensmyren, in her valedictory speech, said that thousands of physicians were leaving the profession early.

“Many, if not most, have left due to fear, burnout and the often overlooked feeling of helplessness, worried that they can no longer make a difference,” she said.

She said she was deeply concerned about the growing violence against physicians, often involving patients or relatives, and also about attacks on health care personnel in conflicts.

“Healthcare is a vital part of society, and healthcare workers should be considered “neutral” in any conflict. Instead, we have become targets. The attacks on healthcare facilities have reached never-before-seen levels. The crimes against civilians and those who care for others are horrible. It is a global disgrace,” she added.

The WMA is the independent confederation of national medical associations with 112 constituent members representing more than 10 million physicians.

Acting on behalf of patients and physicians, the WMA endeavours to achieve the highest possible standards of medical care, ethics, education and health-related human rights for all people.