Health Workforce in Africa: Challenges and Prospects

The report of the Africa Working Group (Joint Learning Initiative) is in 4 main parts covering a situation analysis, opportunities that arise and the preconditions for effective strategies. Part I discusses the health crisis in Africa and the human resources in health challenges as it tries to meet health objectives. It discusses the causes and underlying factors behind the shortage of health workers in Africa, and compares the situation with other parts of the world. Part II examines the opportunities that currently exist and how the international community and countries can respond in making human resources in health systems capable of delivering the development goals. In Part III, the report looks at how Africa could respond to the human resources crisis and examines the policy environment for strategy development and implementation. The report ends with recommendations that evolved during the working group’s deliberations and are aimed at helping countries, regional organizations and international partners and agencies to construct a framework for tackling the challenges instead of simply offering standardised prescriptions. [from introduction]