Policy

This article opens a debate about how to think about moving forward with the emerging twin movements of human resources for health and universal health coverage (UHC). The authors argue that not only should the movement for UHC be paired with current efforts to address the human resources crisis, but also, for both to succeed, we need to know more about how health policy works in low and middle income countries. [from abstract]

This policy document review identified key health workforce policy issues and gaps in policy development related to primary health care in Vietnam. [adapted from author]

The Ministry of Health in Zambia developed a strategy to integrate community health workers into national health plans by creating a new group of community health assistants. The aim of the paper is to analyse the policy development process and the factors that influenced its evolution and content. [adapted from abstract]

This template is intended to assist countries and other stakeholders to identify relevant HRH commitments by mapping out the most effective interventions and their interrelatedness to improve the situation of HRH. It draws on the WHO Code, and the different policy documents that Member States have endorsed that call for action on HRH. [adapted from author]

This study investigated the reasons for poor implementation of the legal abortion policy in Ghana using Lipsky’s theory of street-level bureaucracy to better understand how providers shape and implement policy and how provider-level barriers might be overcome. [from abstract]

Several studies have suggested policy options to reduce brain drain from Africa. The purpose of this paper is to review possible policies which can stem the impact of health professional brain drain from Africa. [from abstract]

The article draws on a policy implementation framework to analyse the implementation of occupation-specific dispensation (OSD), a financial incentive strategy to attract, motivate, and retain health professionals in the public health sector, and seeks to determine whether the manner in which OSD was implemented caused unintended negative consequences. [from author]

The health workforce crisis is widely recognized as a critical obstacle to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, as well as the global health goals of the United States Government. The Global Health Initiative recognizes this problem and includes expansion and appropriate deployment of the health workforce among its goals. However, this has yet to be translated into a coherent strategy with clear goals, resource allocation, technical approach, and indicators of progress. This paper addresses that gap in the US approach. [adapted from abstract]

This review documents the ways in which primary health care, specifically human resources in primary health care, has been evaluated in low- and middle income countries with a focus given to countries that have undergone health sector reforms similar to Vietnam. [adapted from author]

This paper examines health system strengthening as it occurs in the intersection between the health workforce and governance by presenting a framework to examine health workforce issues related to eight governance principles.

This paper creates awareness of the current human resource crisis that Zambia is facing, taking into account the few doctors serving rural communities in the country; and argues that the main driver of doctors’ exodus out of the country is the search for better conditions of service. The paper presents the advantages and disadvantages of various policy options geared toward stemming the tide of doctors leaving the country, primarily through creating greater incentives for doctors to stay. [from author]

Health worker migration from resource-poor countries to developed countries, also known as brain drain, represents a serious global health crisis and a significant barrier to achieving global health equity. Using acceptable methods of policy analysis, the authors assess current strategies aimed at alleviating brain drain and then propose a global health policy based solution to address current policy limitations. [adapted from abstract]

The objectives of the study reported in this article were to: estimate the technical and scale efficiency of national health systems (NHS) in utilizing human resources for health in African continent to produce various ultimate health outputs; identify the magnitudes of inefficiencies in the use of human resources for health in individual countries; identify the best performer NHS whose practice could be emulated by others; and highlight the implications for policy to health sector policy-makers. [from author]

This paper aims to provide information on the migration of Filipino health workers and the impact it has on the individual migrant, his family, professions and specifically the health care system. Further it discusses policy initiatives that have been established to both ensure the country’s competitiveness in the global labor market as well as strengthen its capability to strengthen its health care system. [from introduction]

Highlighting the contribution of non-binding instruments to global health governance, this article describes the World Health Organization Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel negotiation process from its early stages to the formal adoption of the final text. [from author]

The purpose of this study was to assess students’ experiences and attitudes toward legislative advocacy using a convenience sample of premedical and medical students attending a National Advocacy Day in Washington, DC. [from abstract]

This document provides guidance on the defining features of health policy and systems research (HPSR), particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and the critical steps in conducting research in this field. It showcases the diverse range of research strategies and methods encompassed by HPSR, and it provides examples of good quality and innovative HPSR papers. [adapted from author]

This technical brief looks at the cost of absenteeism, examines governance issues, describes the various stakeholders, and offers a number of recommendations for strengthening governance to reduce absenteeism. [from publisher]

This paper reviews the magnitude and form of Cuban medical cooperation in the Pacific and analyses its implications for health policy, human resource capacity and overall development assistance for health in the region. [from abstract]

This issue includes articles for FBOs on: making advocacy effective in a contemporary setting; country experiences in human resources for health; role of church health coordinating committees in advocacy; monitoring responsiveness in healthcare centres; and an introduction to monitoring and evaluation. [adapted from author]

This toolkit offers health policy stakeholders and practitioners online access to a growing collection of information about policies and practices that can help enhance the contribution of the private sector to important health goals in developing countries. [from publisher]

This call to action advocates for the recognition of the economic and social value of volunteers in public health disaster situations and the development of policies to protect them.

The objective of this review was to ascertain if priority access to HIV and/or TB services should be provided to health care workers as well as whether workplaces should provide programs reducing stigma and/or discrimination for all health care workers. [from abstract]

The Federal Ministry of Health, recognizing the complementary role of the market based private sector in the provision of quality health services at competitive price especially in the underserved areas, developed this policy document to define the role of private v/s public sector, to institute mechanisms for the regulation of health services delivery, setting up and monitoring of the minimum standards of care, and bring into fold the private sector in reporting within the defined parameters. [from author]

The advocacy strategy was launched to contribute to the overall achievement stronger, more inclusive and accessible health systems. It aims to raise awareness of the critical shortage of human resources for health in developing countries and bring the voices and expertise of health workers to the attention of policy makers to suggest solutions. [adapted from summary]

This document outlines the important role health workers play in areas suffering from severe crises and makes the case for investing in HRH as central to health system recovery and improved health outcomes. [adapted from author]

This article argues that community health workers can connect people to health care and collect information relevant to policy. As a result of direct interaction with the populations they serve, they can recount the realities of exclusion and propose remedies for it, contribute to best practices, and inform public policy. [adapted from abstract]

The Policy Implementation Assessment Tool, user-friendly approach and tool for assessing policy implementation, comprises two interview guides that explore the perspectives of policymakers and program implementers, including community-level health workers, local leaders, and clients. This document provides guidance to help readers adapt the tool to different policies and contexts in their own countries. [adapted from introduction]

The aim of this paper is to demystify policy implementation and provide user-friendly advice on translating policies into action. To do so, the paper presents experiences and lessons learned from the Health Policy Initiative organized around the project’s Policy-to-Action Framework. [from summary]

This paper presents case studies of networks in 11 countries assisted by the POLICY Project to demonstrate how reproductive health advocacy networks were influential actors that played a role in fostering significant policy changes over the past decade. [from summary]