Protecting the Health of Health Care Workers: A Global Perspective 

 This synthesis report stems from a one-day, pre-conference workshop titled “Occupational Health Services for Health Care Workers in Rural/Remote Areas and Developing Countries.” The workshop was part of the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) Conference on Health Care Worker Health / State-of-the-Art Conference (SOTAC) held in 2007. The workshop was framed around the growing need to identify practical and sustainable ways of providing occupational health services for health care workers in rural/remote areas (RRAs) and developing countries.

 Working in four different groups according to their chosen area of interest, participants used case studies, a problem prioritization exercise, and dialogue to address three major themes:

1- The organization, provision, and establishment of occupational health services

2- Preventing occupational transmission of blood-borne and air-borne infectious diseases

3- Providing immunization and post exposure prophylaxis