BREAKING: Bipartisan Frontline Health Workers Resolution Introduced by Reps. Lowey, Crenshaw

By Scott Weathers, IntraHealth International and Frontline Health Workers Coalition

Reps. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.) introduced H. Res. 419, “Recognizing the Importance of Frontline Health Workers” today in the U.S. House of Representatives.

According to the WHO, as of 2015, at least 400 million people lack access to one of more essential health services provided by frontline health workers. H.Res. 419 would:

• Reaffirm the “critical role of frontline health workers in achieving core global health goals, including ending preventable child and maternal deaths, ensuring global health security, and achieving an AIDS-free generation”
• Commend the “progress made by the United States in helping to build local capacity and to save lives in the world’s most vulnerable communities by training and supporting frontline health workers;”
• Acknowledge that “in the aftermath of natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and conflict, frontline health workers continue to perform critical services to save the lives of mothers and children without access to medicines, equipment, or running water in many cases;”
• Urge “greater global attention and support for local frontline health workers to ensure their ability to respond effectively during humanitarian crises and to safeguard the health of the world’s most vulnerable populations, including populations in conflict-affected states;”
• Call on “all relevant Federal agencies, including the United States Agency for International Development, the Department of State, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to develop a coordinated, comprehensive health workforce strengthening action plan that is data-driven with concrete targets for increasing equitable access to qualified health workers in developing countries, particularly in underserved areas, to support the Global Human Resources for Health Strategy.”

​Full text of the resolution is available here.