Policy

Finding Middle Ground: Making Better Use of the African Private Health Sector through More Effective Regulations

This report highlights how changes in the legal and regulatory environment can facilitate expanded access to family planning and reproductive health services through Africa’s private health sector. Using laws and regulations from three Africa countries - Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria - this report presents a road map on how to review the most important laws governing the private sector, as well as key issues to assess. [from introduction]

Community Care Worker Mangement Policy Framework 2009

The policy framework is intended to provide an effective and efficient occupational workforce to support a comprehensive multidisciplinary health care service; strengthen partnerships between government, civil society and communities to consolidate, manage and focus the services offered by Community Care Workers; and delineate strategies that address systemic change within the complex systems both within the public sector and its partners. [from introduction]

Public-Sector Maternal Health Programs and Services for Rural Bangladesh

This paper assesses the development of maternal health services and policies in Bangladesh by reviewing policy and strategy documents since the country's independence in 1971, with primary focus on rural areas where three-fourths of the total population of reside. [adapted from abstract]

Health Service Planning and Policy-Making: a Toolkit for Nurses and Midwives

The purpose of this toolkit, consisting of 7 booklets, is to provide nurses and midwives with tools to effectively participate in and influence health care planning and policy-making. This tool-kit has been designed for use by any nurse or midwife who has an interest in advocating for change in their work environment. [from publisher]

Cross-Country Review of Strategies of the German Development Cooperation to Strengthen Human Resources

Recent years have seen growing awareness of the importance of human resources for health in health systems and with it an intensifying of the international and national policies in place to steer a response. This paper looks at how governments and donors in five countries: Cameroon, Indonesia, Malawi, Rwanda and Tanzania, have translated such policies into action. [from abstract]

Establishing an Observatory on Human Resources for Health in Sudan

This report is meant to explore the experience so far on HRH observatories and their contribution to evidence-based policy, planning and management of health workforce. The report also proposes national human resources for health observatory for Sudan together with its required steps and arrangements. [from executive summary]

Reducing the Burden of HIV and AIDS Care on Women and Girls

Public health systems in most developing countries do not have the capacity to provide necessary care and support to people living with HIV & AIDS. Out of necessity, many turn to family, neighbours and friends for care, the majority of whom are female. This policy brief outlines why women and girls carry the burden of HIV & AIDS care, describes the impact on them and makes policy and program recommendations to help reduce this burden. [adapted from abstract]

Nursing Community, Macroeconomic and Public Finance Policies: Towards a Better Understanding

This paper seeks to support nursing community interactions with the various stakeholders that influence financial resource allocation in the public sector by providing nursing representatives with some insight of the reasons for investing in health, health systems and the health workforce. [from executive summary]

Implementing IMCI in Kenya: Challenges and Recommendations

This policy brief explores the major challenges facing Kenya in the implementation of their Integrated Management of Childhood Illness strategy and looks at why it is failing to fulfill its potential to improve health care and reduce child mortality. [adapted from introduction]

Global Action for Health System Strengthening: Policy Recommendations to the G8

This report is a follow-up to the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit held in Japan in July, 2008. It was prepared by government officials in health and foreign policy from the G8 countries, with leadership from Japan, and covered a number of critical issues in global health. The report reflected growing policy attention to health system strengthening by Japan and the global health community more broadly. [from introduction]

The chapter containing on "Opportunities for Overcoming the Health Workforce Crisis" begins on page 27.

Diagnostics: Key Issues for Workforce Planning

The objective of this paper is to identify the future workforce challenges that will have a profound impact on the capacity to recruit and retain staff. In addition, issues that pertain to key staff groups for this care group will be identified. [from introduction]

How Can Optimal Skill Mix be Effectively Implemented and Why?

This policy brief describes steps towards the determination and implementation of an optimal skill mix within a health system, including definition of the skill mix and how to achieve clarity regarding the key policy problems for which it is envisioned as a solution. [from executive summary]

Using Human Resource for Health Data: Health Policy and Program Planning Examples from Four African Countries

Imbalances in quantity and quality of human resources for health (HRH) are increasingly recognized as perhaps the most critical impediment to achieving health outcome objectives in most African countries. However, reliable data on the HRH situation is not readily available. Some countries have hesitated to act in the absence of such data; other countries have not acted even when data are available while others have moved ahead in spite of the lack of reliable information. This paper addresses the issue of data use for HRH policy-making. [from summary]

Migration Management in the Philippines: Development of Bilateral Policies between Sending and Destination Countries

This presentation from the 2008 Asia-Pacific Action Alliance on Human Resource for Health Conference provides a policy analysis case study on mitigating the impact of nurse migration in the philippines as well as an evaluation of the UK-Philippines Bilateral Labor Agreement [adapted from presentation].

Structures of Global Governance, Healthcare and Health Workforce

This presentation from the 2008 Asia-Pacific Action Alliance on Human Resource for Health Conference discusses the potential impact of global governance on the international health workforce crisis [adapted from presentation].


To view this presentation, you must have either Microsoft PowerPoint or download the free PowerPoint Viewer.

Global Governance and Human Resources for Health

This presentation by the Global Health Workforce Alliance from the 2008 Asia-Pacific Action Alliance on Human Resource for Health Conference discusses global governance as a means of addressing the international health workforce crisis [adapted from presentation].


To view this presentation, you must have either Microsoft PowerPoint or download the free PowerPoint Viewer.

Migration of Health Workers: the UK Perspective to 2006

Most healthcare in the UK is delivered through the National Health Service (NHS). Shortages of skilled staff led to policy changes including international recruitment of health professionals. Subsequent changes in the UK migration policy have impacted international recruitment, leading to a significant reduction in the inflow of international clinicians to the NHS. [adapted from summary]

International Mobility of Health Professionals and Health Workforce Management in Canada: Myths and Realities

This OECD report examines the role played by immigrant health workers in the Canadian health workforce, as well as the interactions between migration policies and education and health workforce management policies. [adapted from introduction]

Strategies to Overcome Physician Shortages in Northern Ontario: a Study of Policy Implementation Over 35 Years

Shortages and maldistibution of physicians in northern Ontario, Canada, have been a longstanding issue. This study seeks to document, in a chronological manner, the introduction of programs intended to help solve the problem by the provincial government over a 35-year period and to examine several aspects of policy implementation, using these programmes as a case study. [from abstract]

NGO Code of Conduct for Health Systems

The NGO Code of Conduct for Health Systems Strengthening is a response to the recent growth in the number of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) associated with the increase in aid flows to the health sector. It is intended to be used as a tool for service organizations and eventually for funders and host governments. The code serves as a guide to encourage NGO practices that contribute to building public health systems and discourage those that are harmful. [from introduction]

Assessing the Impact of a New Health Sector Pay System Upon NHS Staff in the United Kingdom

This paper reports on the design and implementation of a completely new pay system in the National Health Service (NHS) in England.Pay and pay systems are a critical element in any health sector human resource strategy. Changing a pay system can be one strategy to achieve or sustain organizational change. [from abstract]

Health Workforce and International Migration: Can New Zealand Compete?

This paper examines health workforce and migration policies in New Zealand, with a special focus on the international recruitment of doctors and nurses. [from abstract]

Experience of the Latin America and Caribbean Observatory of Human Resource for Health

This document review the Observatory of Human Resources in Health in the Health Sector Reform Processes in Latin America and Caribbean, which is a cooperative initiative among the countries of the Americas aimed at producing information and knowledge in order to improve human resource policy decisions as well as contributing to human resoures development within the health sector on the basis of sharing experiences among countries. [adapted from author]

Establishing National Health Workforce Observatories: Challenges and Opportunities

This background paper attempts to address the basic concept of national HRH observatories including what can they do, how to mobilize and establish them, types of activities, organization and coordintation, finance and examples of outcomes. [adapted from author]

Working from the Inside: Mainstreaming HIV into Government Planning in Kenya

This brief describes the successful process of working within the government to achieve results in HIV planning. [adapted from author]

Role of Networking in Managing Migration of Human Resources for Health in the Philippines

This paper aims to present the existing HRH problems exemplified by migration in the light of other related issues such as the nurse medic phenomenon, foreign doctors taking up residency training, quality of nursing education, paradoxical enrollment trends in nursing and medicine and the effects of migration on health service delivery.

Review of Codes and Protocols for the Migration of Health Workers

This is a review of current multi-lateral agreements, codes of practice, bilateral agreements, regional agreements, and strategies and position statements that govern the migration of health workers from ESA (East and Southern African) countries. The main purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the current situation in ESA. [from executive summary]

Policy on Quality in Health Care for South Africa

Knowing that quality is never an accident, always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution, and that it represents the wise choice of many alternatives, this abbreviated version of the Policy attempts to provide the strategic direction health facilities and officials need to follow to assure quality in health care and continuous improvement in the care that is being provided. Health care personnel are encouraged to use this copy of the Policy to focus their intentions and guide their efforts. [from foreword].

Telemedicine: a Need for Ethical and Legal Guidelines in South Africa

Telemedicine is viewed as a new way of offering medical services. It is seen as a means of overcoming the growing shortage of health practitioners in developing countries. The aim of this paper is to highlight the need for the formulation of guidelines for the ethical practice of telemedicine in South Africa. [from abstract]

Guiding Principles for National Health Workforce Strategies

These guidelines help answer what national health workforce plans should contain and how they should be developed to give them the best chance of significantly improving health outcomes and moving countries as rapidly as possible towards universal access to essential health interventions. The guidelines should serve as overarching principles that will promote the success of health workforce plans, while ensuring that they are consistent with human rights. [adapted from author]