. If governments are to take forward the policies and practices that work, they should know the following. 1. Political leaders proved during COVID-19 that remarkable things are possible. Now only top-level of shortages and attrition. Leaders need to recognize: –. decades of underinvestment have led to a workforce crisis that requires urgent action; –. low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face significant shortages and high-income countries with rising population demand are a long way from self-sufficiency; –. the macroeconomic outlook and threat of . The evidence from the pandemic – that the HCWF generates invaluable contributions to the economy, decent employment, gender rights, societal health and well-being and health security – needs to be used to convince finance ministries that the HCWF matters. Health must be at the decision-making table when finances are allocated to get investments to where they need to be. 2. The pandemic showed how adaptable the HCWF can be and how important it is to develop their competencies, skills and adaptability. Societies need to health and care services and public health functions, Key measures include investing in: –. secondary education and in science and technology skills, particularly for girls, to provide candidates for the HCWF and create human capital; –. education infrastructure, faculty, competency-based education models and online learning to support HCWF development and economies more widely; –. continuing professional development (CPD) and lifelong learning, aligned with international standards to respond to changing needs; –. the multidisciplinary teams and skills necessary to deliver primary care and fill gaps in underserved and hard-to-reach areas efficiently and effectively. 3. The pandemic demonstrated that a range of measures can effectively protect the HCWF and sustain them. , which means: –. paying for decent working conditions; –. taking steps to support the mental and physical health of the HCWF; –. managing staff performance and supporting career development; –. removing the gender pay gap, where it exists, delivering equal pay and targeting gender inequalities. At the half-way point of the SDGs there are inequities and paradoxes: –. the HCWF accounts for 10% of total employment in high-income countries (but only a little over 1% in LMICs); –. LMICs experience both a shortage of HCWF relative to population needs, and unemployment or underemployment of health and care workers (HCWs). –. adjusting labour market investments to stimulate job creation. –. initiatives to offset demand issues; –. fair remuneration. Adequate financial and non-financial incentives need to be combined with policies that support and protect HCWs, especially women and youth. 4. Securing long-term domestic financing for recurrent HCWF costs relies on demonstrating efficiency, but an underfunded HCWF cannot be effective and optimize performance. and this requires: –. All governments to consider the cross-cutting benefits of effective education and retention policies for the HCWF in their spending decisions, (recognizing their contribution to gender equality, managing migration, economic participation and rural economies). –. Governments to recognize the counter cyclical value of health employment. –. Development assistance for the HCWF to be increased (from just 5%), including through intersectoral allocations from education, gender and job creation budgets. –. Investment, including international development funding, should focus on creating a sustainable HCWF, with ideas to scale-up revenue for education and employment including more extensive debt cancellation and greater use of blended financing options.