On April 18th, NOVA National School of Public Health hosted the highly anticipated international conference “Health and Care Workforce in Europe: Time to Act“, welcoming Tomas Zapata, Coordinator of the Health Workforce and Service Delivery Unit at the World Health Organization.
The conference, which attracted about one hundred healthcare professionals, decision-makers and academics, aimed to address the significant current challenges related to the healthcare workforce and service delivery throughout the European Region.
Tomas Zapata presented the recently released “Health and care workforce in Europe: time to act” Report and addressed the need to implement new policies for managing healthcare human resources, that specifically examines policy options, expected benefits, potential facilitators or barriers for successful implementation, and presents evidence-based best practices from specific countries.
During the opening ceremony of the conference, Professor Sónia Dias, Dean of NOVA NSPH, emphasized the School’s commitment to training the next generation of healthcare leaders, with a focus on creating value for the sector and improving the health of the communities.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tomas Zapata is an expert in health systems and health workforce, with over 13 years of experience in policy advisory, research, and program implementation, including long-term international work with WHO, UNFPA, and Doctors Without Borders.
He has authored several studies on health service integration, primary healthcare, health workforce policy, and health labor market analysis, among other topics, in African and Asian contexts.
Currently, he serves as the Coordinator of the Health Workforce and Service Delivery Unit at WHO Europe. He holds a degree in Medicine from the University of Alcala, Spain, with specialization in Family Medicine. He also holds a master’s degree in Health Policy, Planning, and Financing from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the London School of Economics, as well as a master’s degree in Humanitarian Medicine from the Complutense University of Madrid, specializing in Health Human Resources from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, USA.