Global Trends in Health Worker Protests During and Beyond COVID-19, with Veena Sriram
Representative health worker organizations – such as unions and associations – play critical roles in governance and policy processes, particularly with regards to health workforce issues. Despite this role, health policy and systems researchers have yet to fully engage with the role of health worker unions and associations in health politics and governance, particularly from a global perspective, including in the context of low- and middle-income countries. This topic has gained particular salience in light of COVID-19, the global health workforce crisis and frequent strikes and protests by various health workers groups. In this presentation, we present data on global trends in health worker protests during and beyond COVID-19 and then present results from a novel cross-country comparison of nursing unions in India, Canada and the United States, examining their role and power during major contemporary policy debates. The findings from this study are also used to develop a conceptual framework, examining representation, workforce governance structures, political environment, strategies, and outcomes.
Speaker Profile
Veena Sriram is an Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair Tier 2 in Global Health Policy, with a joint appointment in the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA) and the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) at the University of British Columbia. Her research sits at the intersection of global health, social science and public policy, and her interests are in understanding power and politics in health policy processes in low- and middle-income countries. She draws upon theory and methodologies from the social sciences in conducting her research, and has a particular focus on qualitative approaches. Her work has been published in journals such as the BMJ, Social Science and Medicine, BMJ Global Health and Health Policy and Planning.
Dr. Sriram has a particular focus on health workforce policy and health sector governance. She has conducted extensive research at the national and state level in India, exploring a range of health policy and system questions, including medical specialization, health workforce policy development, the functioning of national health authorities and emergency care systems. She has also contributed to expanding the application of theory and concepts to study power in health policy and systems research. Dr. Sriram also writes regularly on contemporary issues in global health policy in forums such as International Health Policies, and is involved with Health Systems Global and Emerging Voices for Global Health.
Dr. Sriram has received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. She has previously been awarded fellowships from the American Institute of Indian Studies and the U.S. Fulbright Program. She has led the design and execution of qualitative research funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (Fogarty International Center and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality), the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She has also consulted for the World Health Organization.
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