Sub-Saharan Africa

In this article, the authors describe a pilot program developed by a Tanzania university to train its professional students (dentists, doctors, environmental health officers, nurses, and pharmacists) to work collaboratively with each other and with other health staff at the district level to be sure that staff have the specific skills needed to work in rural districts. [adapted from abstract]

The article describes an international collaboration that helped a Tanzanian school of pharmacy to move from preparing graduates who dispense medicines to preparing pharmacy practice leaders attuned to patient-focused, team-based care in hospitals, and education and surveillance in communities. [adpated from publisher]

Muhimbili University launched a transformation of its curricula to better prepare graduates to lead the health system for improved outcomes for Tanzania’s largely rural and underserved population. As the magnitude of curricular change, the process, and implications for improving population health are probably unprecedented in Africa, the authors describe the complex process and specify lessons relevant to health and education. [from publisher]

This article traces the history of health professional education in Tanzania and the development of the nation’s first health sciences university. [adapted from publisher]

This article outlines and reviews a multi-university partnership to address the health workforce crisis in Tanzania by enriching health professional education. [adapted from author]

This introduction to Tanzania’s health system and acute workforce shortage familiarizes readers with the context in which health professions education takes place. [from abstract]

This edition of Hotline, an HRH newletter focused on the needs of faith-based organizations (FBOs) in Africa, highlights resources, trainings and workshops, articles of interest and other information for FBO HRH pracitioners.

This article outlines the development and use of an eight-month modular, in-service work-based training program in Uganda aimed at strengthening the capacity for monitoring and evaluation and continuous quality improvement in health service delivery. [adapted from abstract]

The aim of this qualitative pilot study was to investigate primary health workers’ practices which lead to diagnostic and treatment decisions for febrile children under five years of age in Zanzibar rural health facilities and identify primary influences shaping clinical practice, including past training among health workers, types of diagnostic tools used, and educational factors. [from author]

This qualitative study was conducted among frontline health workers to explore provider experiences with integration in order to ascertain their significance to the performance of integrated health facilities. [from abstract]

This study sought to identify factors necessary for effective development of health manpower in the low-resourced Bayelsa State. [adapted from abstract]

This paper details the experience of developing an eLearning technology as a tool to implement competency-based medical education in Tanzania medical universities, inlcuding the background, early adoption attempts, challenges to implementation and lessons learned. [adapted from abstract]

This article elaborates what South African medical specialists find satisfying about working in the public and private sectors, at present, and how to better incentivize retention in the public sector. [from abstract]

The objective of this study was to determine if, with appropriate training, volunteers known as community-based reproductive health agents can administer injectable contraceptives to women in a rural region of Ethiopia with the same effectiveness, safety and acceptability as health extension workers. [from author]

This report details the results and impact of a human resources for health quality improvement intervention in Niger. The approach focused on teaching evidence-based human resources interventions that will improve health outcomes. [adapted from author]

This brief describes the impact of using health management information system (HMIS) data, including an example of how this data improved the vaccination rates for newborns in Ethiopia.

This short (4:38 minutes) video shares information about the Health Systems 20/20 assessment of the health system in Cote d’Ivoire. Based on the findings, the project worked with in-country partners to improve production of health workers, create incentives to motivate health workers to move to the underserved north, and build health management capacity. [from publisher]

This guide contains detailed guidance on how to train safe motherhood action group volunteers in two key areas of their portfolio – maternal and newborn health care.

This edition of Hotline, an HRH newletter focused on the needs of faith-based organizations (FBOs) in Africa, highlights resources, trainings and workshops, articles of interest and other information for FBO HRH pracitioners.

This report is a nationally representative study in Malawi that employed both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods to assess statistically significant drivers of intrinsic motivation for health workers of every cadre accross the entire health system including public, private for-profit, and faith-based health workers. [adapted from author]

This study aimed to contribute an understanding of medicine sellers’ motivations and perceptions of roles in rural and urban North-West Cameroon as providers of first aid care, which is complementary rather than competitive to formal providers. [adapted from author]

This study investigated the knowledge and performance of health extension workers (HEWs) on antenatal and delivery care. The study also explored the barriers and facilitators for HEWs in the provision of maternal health care. [from abstract]

This study reviewed Cameroon’s experience with deploying a mid-level cadre of oral health professionals and the feasibility of establishing a more formal and predictable role for these health workers. The authors anticipate that a task-shifting approach in the provision of dental care will significantly improve the uneven distribution of oral health services particularly in the rural areas of Cameroon. [adapted from abstract]

This analysis shows that a program to introduce emergency obstetric care and a referral system rapidly and significantly reduced the level of maternal mortality in two project areas in Burundi and Sierra Leone. [adapated from author]

This research set out to explore with frontline health workers and their managers how working conditions affect attitudes, behaviour and practices. It also sought the positive side of the health worker experience. The report documents the experiences and views of 122 nursing health workers in all regions of Uganda covering government, not-for-profit and private ownership organisations. [adapted from author]

This paper proposes that the needs-based formula be used to identify the provinces and districts that are furthest from their health equity targets and that they should receive priority for the allocation of additional budgetary resources. A detailed gap analysis focuses on comparing the current health human resources in each of these provinces and districts to national norms. [adapted from author]

This article outlines a program in South Africa that has developed an innovative mid-level medical worker model that can contribute substantively to the development of quality district-level health care and examines the priorities for expanding and sustaining the program going forward. [adapted from author]

This article quantifies the number of HIV health workers required to be added to the current HIV workforce to achieve universal access to HIV treatment in South Africa, under different eligibility criteria. [from abstract]

Health user fees were introduced in Zambia at the beginning of the 1990s with the objective of improving staff motivation. In 2006, they were removed in view of the poverty levels in the country, the high cost for accessing health services, and the desire to provide universal access. This article examines the perspectives of health workers on the change in policy. [adapted from author]

This report outlines an intervention that utilized supportive supervision in 86 facilities around Ethiopia that aimed to: enable healthcare workers to practice new skills in infection prevention and control (IPC) following formal trainings; coach health care facility staff to improve their performance in order to meet recommended IPC standards; improve the skills of supervisors for independent program monitoring; integrate IPC into the routine health care supervision system; and monitor the changes in program performance as a result of these activities. [adapted from author]