The British Medical Journal, one of the top 5 leading global medicine journals, gives space to rehabilitation and the World Health Assembly resolution to Strengthen Rehabilitation in Health Systems with an opinion paper co-signed by our Director, Prof. Stefano Negrini. The authors advocate for prioritizing global rehabilitation services, emphasizing the urgent need highlighted in the 76th World Health Assembly's recent resolution

The global scale of the issue is staggering, with over 2.4 billion people worldwide having health conditions that could benefit from rehabilitation. Shockingly, more than 50% of individuals in most countries do not receive necessary rehabilitation services. This gap is exacerbated in low and middle-income countries, where workforce and financial limitations result in less than one-tenth of the rehabilitation staff compared to high-income countries.

The resolution urges nations to allocate budgets for developing rehabilitation and expanding the workforce, viewing it as an investment in population health. The ultimate goal is to make rehabilitation a mandatory part of universal health coverage.

Cochrane is a member of the World Rehabilitation Alliance, advocating with Cochrane Rehabilitation representatives participating in the research and the workforce workstream. The World Rehabilitation Alliance (WRA) is a WHO global network of stakeholders whose mission is to support the implementation of the Rehabilitation 2030 Initiative through advocacy activities.

You can find the article here.