Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu, UICC President-Elect of 2024-2026 and a Founder and CEO of the Medicaid Cancer Foundation, shared on LinkedIn:
“UNGA80 continues to be a critical platform for advancing global health priorities. Yesterday at UNGA80, I took part in various open discussions and high-level roundtables.
Discussing how we are ‘Protecting the Mental Health of Health Workers: Resilience and Retention of the Health Future,’ which underscored the urgent need to support the frontline workforce. In LMICs, over 17% of health workers experience depression, 11% live with anxiety, and more than 30% report symptoms of PTSD, figures that demand immediate attention to protect resilience and ensure retention.
It was also an honor to represent Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) as president elect at a session hosted by BCIU, on ‘Driving Access to Medical Imaging for Improved Outcomes in Oncology and Cardiovascular Disease in LMICs – Operationalizing the NCD Political Declaration.’
With more than 3 billion people lacking access to basic radiology services, and fewer than 25% of cancer patients in LMICs receiving adequate imaging, scaling diagnostic access is essential to early detection and survival. My 20 odd years running Medicaid Radio-diagnostics and Clinics center, continues to be an uphill task with regulatory hurdles, unstable power and economic constraints.
Both sessions reinforced the need for coordinated action, investment in people, and system-wide innovations to strengthen cancer and NCD control globally.”
More posts from Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu.
