Science Summit at United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78)

Why we should ensure physicians wellness and prevent burnout especially in Sub Saharan Africa towards achieving the universal health coverage
 Burnout is defined as emotional and physical exhaustion, depersonalization or disconnect from the job, and lack of personal accomplishment/self-worth. Burnout has multiple negative consequences at personal (i.e. depression, substance abuse, broken relationships, etc) and professional level (i.e. decreased quality of care, medical errors, decreased productivity, physician turnover, leaving the medical profession). These negative consequences of burnout have even a bigger impact in low resources settings where there is shortage of healthcare providers and poor working conditions.
This session aims:
1) to highlight the factors leading to burnout and the impact of burnout on the quality of care delivery in health systems from Sub Saharan Africa
2) to discuss potential solutions in reducing physicians burnout and implementing wellness programs in Sub Saharan Africa
3) to discuss the importance of burnout prevention and wellness in retaining physicians and achieving the Universal Health Coverage in Sub-Saharan Africa.
 More than 5 billion people lack access to safe surgery and anesthesia. Despite on going efforts, multiple countries especially in Sub Saharan Africa have shortage of healthcare providers and insufficient funding leading to poor working conditions and burnout.
The invited speakers have experience in research about burnout among anesthesia providers in Rwanda, Zambia, and Uganda.  Tuyishime Eugene, Dylan Bould and colleagues, in 2019, conducted a cross-sectional study among anesthesia providers across Rwanda which showed that more than 25% of participants had burnout while more than 50% had a high emotional exhaustion.

Mumbwe et al, 2018 conducted a similar study in Zambia which showed that more than 50% of participants had burnout especially low level professionals like nurse anesthetists working in remote areas. Both studies demonstrated that poor working conditions (i.e. lack of equipment, lack of supplies and drugs, inadequate team) were associated with higher risk of burnout.
Shimeles, Tuyishime, Bould, and colleagues, 2020 described the unique issues surrounding burnout, resilience, and wellness in the East African region. This special article suggests that investing in the care and wellness of healthcare providers is just as important as any other investment in scaling up universal healthcare. In addition, this paper highlighted the importance of considering the context of each health system and region while developing the solutions because factors leading to burnout are different in each context.

Kenneth Tomanya and colleagues, in 2022, evaluated the prevalence and factors contributing to burnout among anesthesia providers in Uganda while Gaston Nyirigira and colleagues are evaluating the prevalence and factors leading to burnout in one major teaching hospitals in Rwanda. 
This session will be conducted using a format of short presentations from each speaker, followed by a panel discussion, and questions and answers.
 By the end of this session we expect that:
1. Participants and decision makers will have a deep understanding of the problem of healthcare providers burnout and its is impact on healthcare delivery and universal health coverage.
2. Potential solutions to improve wellness and prevent burnout will be discussed with a potential commitment from decision makers in investing in context appropriate solutions.
3. A network of committed participants will be created to continue research and advocacy for better working conditions for healthcare providers especially for low resources settings.
4. Potential donors will provide funding towards burnout prevention and wellness programs especially for low resources settings.