Educated and qualified labour is key for the recovery of healthcare systems, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman said at a joint conference of EU foreign and health ministers on global health in Lyon on Wednesday.

The conference focused on the further development of the EU health strategy and health-related foreign policy based on the EU Strategic Compass, the UN Agenda 2030 on sustainable development, and the experience in combating COVID-19. It emphasised the need to consolidate the multilateral health architecture with the important role of the World Health Organisation, the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs said in a press release.

The ministers discussed the provision of greater support to developing countries in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Educated and qualified labour is key for the recovery and strengthening of healthcare systems. We need to cooperate closely to ensure adequate and equal access to knowledge at the regional and global level. In this regard, we encourage the WHO initiative to relaunch the training of students from the Western Balkans and Africa at the Andrija Stampar School of Public Health (in Zagreb),” Grlic-Radman said.

He mentioned the assistance Croatia had provided to the Western Balkans. “We showed our commitment to solidarity through an even distribution of vaccines, as we initially donated vaccine doses to our nearest Western Balkan neighbours. Furthermore, we continually contribute to strengthening the capacity of their healthcare systems through financial support and the exchange of knowledge.”

Zeljko Plazonic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Health, spoke of the key role of health workers in ensuring the viability of healthcare systems, saying that investing in the healthcare workforce can help preserve the resilience of healthcare systems.

Plazonic stressed the importance of promoting vaccination at all levels and of digitisation of healthcare services to ensure optimum healthcare.