Planning

The aim of this study is to analyse the distribution of physicians, GPs and specialists between the years 1965-2000 and the efficiency of the strict 15 year government intervention (1981-1995). [from abstract]

Comzmercialization of health care has contributed to widen inequities between the rich and the poor, especially in settings with suboptimal regulatory frameworks of the health sector. Poorly regulated fee-for-service payment systems generate inequity and initiate a vicious circle in which access to quality health care gradually deteriorates.

With the first case of Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) identified in 1986, the management of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria has evolved through the years. The emergency phase of the HIV/AIDS program, aimed at containing the HIV/AIDS epidemic within a short time frame, was carried out by international agencies that built structures separate from hospitals’ programs. It is imperative that Nigeria shifts from the previous paradigm to the concept of Commonization of HIV to achieve sustainability.

There is a scarcity of empirical data on African country climates for evidence-informed health system policymaking (EIHSP) to backup the longstanding reputation that research evidence is not valued enough by health policymakers as an information input.
Herein, we assess whether and how changes have occurred in the climate for EIHSP before and after the establishment of two Knowledge Translation Platforms housed in government institutions in Cameroon and Uganda since 2006. [from abstract]

Cardiovascular diseases are the predominant cause of death in Tajikistan, with a growing burden of ischemic heart disease, strokes and cirrhosis between 1990 and 2010. Considering this, this report focuses on cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors, such as hypertension and poor nutrition; it is estimated that 40% of the Tajik population is overweight and 9% is obese. [from abstract]

Most African countries are facing a human resources for health (HRH) crisis, lacking the required workforce to deliver basic health care, including care for mothers and children. To address the HRH challenges, evidence-based deployment and training policies are required. However, the resources available to country-level policy makers to create such
policies are limited. To inform future HRH planning, a scoping review was conducted to identify the type, extent, and quality of evidence that exists on HRH policies for rural MNCH in Africa. [from abstract]

Since the early 2000s, there have been large increases in donor financing of human resources for health (HRH), yet few studies have examined their effects on health systems. The objective of this paper is to determine the scope and impact of investments in HRH by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), the largest investor in HRH outside national governments. [adapted from abstract]

This report synthesises findings from five country case studies from the health dimension of this project, which focus
on maternal and child health (MCH) (Mozambique,Nepal, Rwanda) and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)(Cambodia, Sierra Leone). MCH was selected given its centrality in two of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and its ability to act as a proxy for strengthened health systems.

The purpose of the work described in this paper is to describe the development and application of a needs-based HRH simulation model for pharmacists in Jamaica’s largest health region. [from abstract]

The Policy Brief has looked into different systems that produce data on causes of death and laid out some options and potential strategies that countries might follow to rapidly and cost-effectively improve the cause of death information that these systems produce. This in turn would greatly benefit national health planning and increase critical knowledge about disease burden in the region as well as provide accurate information about how it is changing. [from introduction]

The aim of this study was to analyse the existing databases on health workforce in
Botswana in order to quantify the human resources for health.

A global strategy on human resources for health that addresses, in an integrated way, all aspects ranging from planning, education, management, retention, incentives, linkages with the social service workforce, can inform more incisive, multi-sectoral action, based on new evidence and best practices. This brochure sheds light on why a global strategy on HRH is necessary and outlines the process of developing WHOs strategy. [from abstract]

The Road map, which was developed with the appreciable contribution of critical stakeholders such as ministries of health, education, public services and finance as well as universities and training institutions regulators, professional bodies, civil society and nongovernmental organizations, defines strategic directions and priority interventions to be implemented in the period 2012–2025. [from introduction]

India faces enormous challenge in human resources for health care delivery system. Geographical misdistribution and urban-rural health worker deficit impedes the progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goals. Many rural Indians receive health care from unqualified providers. Rational distribution and retention of qualified providers in rural and remote areas is a daunting task for the government. Little attention is paid in public medical institutions for the real health needs of the community. [from abstract]

The 2013/14 District Health Barometer (DHB) provides an overview of the delivery of primary health care (PHC) in the
public health sector across the provinces and districts in South Africa. The DHB is widely known for providing data to inform the development of District Health Plans and the National Department of Health’s Annual Performance Plan; as such, the publication has been used extensively for strategic planning and district monitoring.

This study focused on the 47 Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) African Region. The specific objectives were to prepare a synthesis on the situation of health systems’ components, to analyse the correlation between the interventions related to the health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and some health systems’ components and to provide overview of four major thrusts for progress towards universal health coverage (UHC). [from abstract]

Indonesia launched the national health insurance program - Jaminan Kesehatan National (JKN) - on January 1, 2014, and aims to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) by 2019. Achieving UHC means not only increasing the number of people covered but also expanding the benefits package and ensuring financial protection. Although the JKN benefits package is comprehensive, a key challenge related to the capacity to deliver the promised services is ensuring the availability, distribution, and quality of human resources for health (HRH). [from abstract]

In 2003, the Government of Ethiopia launched the Health Extension Programme and introduced a new cadre, health extension workers (HEWs), to improve access to care in rural communities. In 2013, to inform the government’s plans for HEWs to take on an enhanced role in community-based newborn care, a time and motion study was conducted to understand the range of HEW responsibilities and how they allocate their time across health and non-health activities. [from abstract]

This is a review of the health financing situation in the Republic of Gabon. The book reviews the situation in the country under the lens of the principles of health financing: revenue mobilization for health, risk pooling, and purchasing services. [from abstract]

It is in the context of Ghana’s persistently high number of maternal deaths that the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) is simulating two policy scenarios: (1) Training and deploying Skilled Birth Attendants (SBAs) at health centers in the five worst affected regions of Ghana by the year 2015 and (2) Training and deploying SBAs at district hospitals in the five worst affected regions of Ghana by the same year to find out if one or both will help Ghana achieve, or be close to achieving, the MDG 5 target of a maternal mortality rate of 185 per 100,000 live births by 2015.

Qualified and motivated human resource (HR) is essential for a qualitative and robust health care delivery. Understanding the constraints and difficulties of health managers is essential for effective and efficient management of health care services. The present study is aimed at understanding the various constraints and difficulties of human resource management (HRM) in the public health sector. [from abstract]

Unfortunately, with its current estimated population of 150 million and estimated total of 23,640 health facilities operated via a three – tiered governance structure, Nigeria is still ranked by World Health Organization at 187th position in its health system among 191 member states. This article reviewed related relevant literature which revealed that, for more than two decades ago, African countries including Nigeria have been plunged into economic crisis which seriously affected a large portion of their populations and raised social and political tensions.

National Research for Health Systems (NRfHS) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have shown growth and consolidation in the last few years. A structured, organized system will facilitate the development and implementation of strategies for research for health to grow and contribute towards people’s health and equity. [from abstract]

Health investments in Kenya have increased in the past two decades, resulting in the expansion of service delivery and improvements in the quality of health services. Although devolution in Kenya provides better opportunities for increasing access to high-quality healthcare services, if the transition is not well managed it may erode the gains made over the last decade, especially in maternal and child health. [from introduction]

The aim of this research was to contribute to a better understanding of health system governance and apply this knowledge to the Tanzanian health system. The insights gained should aid policy makers and other stakeholders to design
interventions that are appropriate for the local context to ensure a stronger health system which is able to attain its goals of improving the level and distribution of health, while responding to the population’s needs and protecting them from large, often catastrophic financial expenditures. [from introduction]

The development of Human Resources for Health (HRH) is one of the keys to achieving The Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Providing and ensuring the best health care service in every region of Indonesia has long been a major concern. Several challenges faced by HRH development are a shortage of professionals, uneven distribution of professionals between regions, a variety of settings (urban and rural), and management of the health workforce under a
decentralization system. This paper aims to assess the HRH progress made toward achieving the health-related MDGs.

During the past decade, donor funding for health interventions in Kenya and other African countries has risen sharply. Focused on high-profile diseases such as HIV/AIDS, these funds create islands of intervention in a sea of under-resourced public health services. This paper draws on ethnographic research conducted in HIV clinics and in a public hospital to examine how health workers experience and reflect upon the juxtaposition of ‘global’ medicine with ‘local’ medicine. We show that health workers face an uneven playing field.

Health professional schools are important in that they produce health workers, the major input in the health system. Not only are labor costs a central part of the health budget, but the majority of all health system costs are determined by health worker variables. The practice behaviors and personal preferences of health workers will determine the communities in which they work and whether they practice primary or specialty care. In some countries, the amount of study and the magnitude of educational debt with which health workers graduate also significantly affect their practice behavior.

Health systems interventions, such as capacity-building of health workers, are implemented across districts in order to improve performance of healthcare organisations. However, such interventions often work in some settings and not in others. Local health systems could be visualised as complex adaptive systems that respond variously to inputs of capacity building interventions, depending on their local conditions and several individual, institutional, and environmental factors.

The study was conducted to better understand the roles and functions of the health workforce responsible for managing patient transitions to and from hospitals and nursing homes in New York’s downstate region to reduce the number of readmissions and to improve care transitions. [adapted from introduction]