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Huge gap in healthcare staff highlighted at UNGASS

    JOHANNESBURG

    Healthcare shortages in developing nations have not been properly addressed in the draft political declaration of the 2006 High-Level Meeting on HIV and AIDS, experts charged on Wednesday.

    According to International AIDS Society chief Helene Gayle, although the document recognised the need to strengthen healthcare systems, there was still a disproportionate gap between healthcare systems in the developed and developing world.

    "In order to scale up towards universal access, the declaration needs to clearly identify how member states and the UN system will strengthen and expand the healthcare workforce in the developing world," Gayle suggested in a statement.

    The World Health Organisation's recently released 2006 World Health report indicated that while the Americas had a healthcare worker ratio of 24.8 per 1,000 people, in Africa there were only 2.3 healthcare workers for every 1,000 people.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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