We should all welcome the
decision by the World Health Assembly to include work-related burnout
as a problem that influences health status of an individual.
The decision was taken during
the World Health Assembly in Geneva.
Burn-out has been included in
the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as
an occupational phenomenon. It is not classified as a medical condition.
It is described in the chapter: ‘Factors influencing health status or contact
with health services’, which includes reasons for which people contact health
services but that are not classed as illnesses or health conditions.
Burn-out has been defined as “a
syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not
been successfully managed”.
It is characterized by:
· Feelings
of energy depletion or exhaustion;
· Increased
mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related
to one's job; and
· Reduced
professional efficacy.
Burnout among physicians has
been largely ignored by everyone for a long time.
Emotionally
exhausted doctors are a danger to patients and a danger to
themselves. The number of suicides among doctors resulting from burnout is
a significant problem.
This World Health
Assembly’s decision should lead to a new approach that addresses
multiple factors including working conditions for doctors around the
world’.
Dr KK Aggarwal
Padma Shri
Awardee
President Elect Confederation of
Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania
(CMAAO)
Group
Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications
President Heart
Care Foundation of India
Past National President
IMA
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