Browse by Geographic Focus

From Dream to Reality: The National HRH Observatory Sudan Success Story

This presentation from the Irish Forum for Global Health Conference provides a background on development of observatories, and outlines the achievements, challenges and prospects of the HRH observatory in Sudan. [adapted from author]

Technical Efficiency of Human Resources for Health in Africa

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]

Human Resources for Public Health Research: A Latino Perspective

This presentation discusses the the characteristics of public health research in Latin America which are poorly known in terms of scale, subjects of study, sources of funding and human resources for development. [adapted from author]

Human Resources for Health in Africa: Experiences, Challenges and Realities

This report contains the proceedings of a meeting of 18 francophone and Spanish-speaking countries in Africa focusing on the HRH crisis. It outlines common challenges faced by the countries concerned and provides suggestions on the role of regional entities and development partners. [from publisher]

Human Resources for Health Migration in the Philippines: A Case Study and Policy Directions

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]

Africa's Neglected Area of Human Resources for Health Research: The Way Forward

Reviewing the status of human resources for health research (HRHR) in Africa, the authors assert that it consists of uncoordinated, small-scale activities, primarily driven from outside Africa. This article also presents examples of ongoing HRHR capacity building initiatives in Africa and a simple model to help countries plan and strategise a comprehensive approach to research capacity strengthening. [adapted from abstract]

Human Resources for Health Research (HRHR) Perspectives

This presentation outlines the need for and way forward to building human resources for health research capacity for system strengthening in Africa.

Improving the Mental Health Treatment Gap in Ghana

Health professionals that treat mental health in Ghana, such as community nurses and pharmacists, lack proper training but have become the default practitioners in dealing with illnesses. This brief explores the shortcomings of Ghana’s mental health policies, and highlights the implications and outcomes for the country’s population. [adapted from author]

Gaps and Shortages in South Africa's Health Workforce

This brief outlines the issues surrounding constraints in the health workforce which have emerged as a key obstacle to scaling-up access to prevention and treatment for the 5.7 million people currently living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa. [adapted from summary]

Human Resources Crisis in Southern Countries: A Major Obstacle to the Fight Against HIV

Conseil national du sida wished to delve further into the human resources crisis in Southern countries. It therefore sought to identify the main causes and determining factors behind the said crisis and to put forth various strategies in an attempt to turn that trend around. [from author]

De Plus en Plus de Malades et de Moins en Moins de Soignants: La Crise des Ressources Humaines du Secteur de la Santé en Afrique

The lack of human resources in the health sector in developing countries is not new. The shortage became a crisis few years after the Millenium Declaration as countries found it difficult to meet the Millennium Development Goals owing to the shortage of health workers.­ The causes of the shortage are multiple and complex, involving management, training and staff distribution issues, as well as migration of workers from the public sector to the private sector, from rural areas to the cities and from one country to another. [from abstract]

Management and Organization of Health Professionals, and Health Human Resource Management in China

This presentation provides a background to China’s health workforce by category, the current situation of the health workforce and the challenges and latest responses. [adapted from author]

Regulation of the Non-Medical Healthcare Professions

This document deals with the regulation of health care professionals other than doctors to strengthen procedures for ensuring the performance of non-medical health professionals and other health service staff does not pose a threat to patient safety or effective functioning of services, and to ensure effective continuing professional development and appraisal for these staff. [adapated from introduction]

Where There is No Paramedic: The Sachigo Lake Wilderness Emergency Response Education Initiative

This paper reports on a collaboration to develop, deliver, and study a community-based first response training program in a remote indigenous community. [from author]

Mobile Learning for HIV/AIDS Health Care Workers' Training in Resource-Limited Settings

This paper gives an overview of the approaches, methods and materials used in a mobile-based educational platform designed to enable health care workers involved in HIV/AIDS care in urban peripheral stations in Peru to access the state-of-the-art in HIV treatment and care. [adapted from introduction]

Doctoring the Village Doctors: Giving Attention Where It Is Due

This book outlines the impact of a package of public health interventions aimed at improving the quality of care of informal village doctors in a rural area of Bangladesh, where village doctors are the primary group of informal healthcare providers practising and dispensing modern medicines. [adapted from publisher]

Why Are Tuberculosis Patients Not Treated Earlier? A Study of Informal Health Practitioners in Bangladesh

The objective of this article was to study the role of informal health practitioners in delays in initiating tuberculosis (TB) treatment in new smear-positive TB patients. [from author]

Policy and Programmatic Implications of Task Shifting in Uganda: A Case Study

Uganda has a severe health worker shortage and a high demand for health care services. This study aimed to assess the policy and programmatic implications of task shifting in Uganda. [from abstract]

HIV Self-Testing among Health Workers: A Review of the Literature and Discussion of Current Practices, Issues and Options for Increasing Access to HIV Testing in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper examines the particular issues of self-testing for HIV among health workers in sub-Saharan Africa, where high levels of interest and motivation for self-testing among health workers has been reported and informal self-testing already practiced. [from summary]

Leveraging the Private Health Sector to Enhance HIV Service Delivery in Lower-Income Countries

This article reviews findings on the types of HIV/AIDS services provided by the private health sector in developing countries and elaborates on the role of private providers of HIV services in Ethiopia. [from abstract]

Performance Improvement Recognition: Private Providers of Reproductive Health Services in Peru

While pay-for-performance incentives are frequently used in human resource management programs, there is less knowledge of alternative incentives for recognizing provider achievements in improving quality—especially in the private health sector. This report identifies which types of recognition mechanisms private providers prefer and provides recommendations for Peru and other countries on implementing a quality improvement program with a recognition component. [from abstract]

Staff's Perception of Abuse in Healthcare: A Swedish Qualitative Study

The study objective was to apprehend changes in the attitude of healthcare staff to abuse in healthcare after an intervention, based on a program called “Forum Play.” [adapted from author]

Assessing Community Health Workers' Performance Motivation: A Mixed-Methods Approach on India's Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) Programme

This study examined the performance motivation of community health workers and its determinants on India’s Accredited Social Health Activist program. [from abstract]

Nigeria TB Supportive Supervision Pilot Evaluation

This document is an evaluation of the implementation of a tool to assist in supervision, assessment and creation of action plans for quality improvement in facilities where TB is diagnosed and treated. [adapated from introduction]

Assessing Fitness to Practice of Overseas-Trained Health Practitioners by Australian Registration and Accreditation Bodies

Assessment of fitness-to-practice of health professionals trained overseas and who wish to practice in Australia is undertaken by a range of organisations. The purpose of the current paper is to investigate the methods of assessment used by these organisations and the issues associated with conducting these assessments. [from abstract]

Scale-Up of Home-Based Management of Malaria Based on Rapid Diagnostic Tests and Artemisinin-Based Combination Therapy in a Resource-Poor Country: Results in Senegal

In Senegal, an pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of a malaria treatment program in remote villages by volunteer home care providers. This paper reports the results of the scale-up in the targeted communities and the impact of the strategy on malaria in the formal health sector. [adapted from abstract]

HIV and Human Resources Challenges in Papua New Guinea: An Overview

The HIV epidemic in Papua New Guinea (PNG) presents major challenges, including significant human resources challenges. This report presents an overview of the available global literature on HIV and human resources, collates information on the workforce responses to HIV in PNG and highlights human resource issues specific to HIV in PNG. [from summary]

Human Resources for Health and Philippine Policy Options

This literature review attempts to put the phenomenon of HRH migration into context in terms of the underlying factors that prompt workers to relocate, as well as the facilitating effects of globalization and worldwide HRH shortages. [adapted from abstract]

Role of Civil Society in Human Resources for Health

The overall objective of the report is to analyse the role of civil society engagement in enhancing the health service delivery in Nepal. Health service delivery is associated with the efficiency of human resource for health. [from author]

Working Conditions of the Health Workforce in Nepal

This report examines working conditions of health workers in Nepal in relation to income and incentives, work supplies and equipment, issues on safety and security and the role of local authorities and the community. [from summary]