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There is no doubt that one of the most effective ways of improving quality of health care at district level, is by means of clinic supervision. To that end, the Clinic Supervisor’s Manual is being used to implement supervision throughout health districts in South Africa. This booklet is a simple tool which guides the effective use of the Clinic Supervisor’s Manual in addition to guiding the day to day activities involved in supervision towards successful and improved outcomes.

This resolution, enacted by the Department of Health in South Africa, details the management and conditions of an allowance designed to attract and retain health workers in rural areas.

The Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) strategy seeks to reduce [childhood] deaths through three main components: improving the skills of health workers, improving health systems an improving family and community practices. IMCI has been shown to be associated with improved quality of care, which should result in improved health outcomes. However, concern about the costs of implementing IMCI had been given as a reason why some countries have not adopted it on a large scale. It is important, therefore, to assess whether IMCI does, in practice, cost more than routine care for children who are less than 5 years old, and if so, by how much…Here we present results from the cost components of the MCE study in the United Republic of Tanzania.

Accurate, detailed and up-to-date manpower data is a prerequisite for human resource management. This technical brief describes how the Ministry of Health conducted a human resource mapping exercise of all public health staff in Kenya, and discusses the implications of the findings. The aim is to demonstrate the many practical uses of human resource data. [adapted from author]

To tackle problems of staff shortage and maldistribution, in 2003 the Government of the Republic of Zambia in partnership with the Royal Netherlands Government embarked on a Pilot Zambian Health Workers Retention Scheme (ZHWRS) for health professionals. The scheme had as first objective to replace the Dutch doctors, working under the bilateral agreement between Zambia and the Netherlands. A regular review process was included as part of the scheme. This report is from the Midterm review that took place in January 2005. [from introduction]

The value of accreditation remains uncertain, and this persists as a central legitimacy problem for accreditation providers, policymakers and researchers. The question arises as to how best to research the validity, impact and value of accreditation processes in health care. [from abstract]

In the era of cost containment, managers are constantly pursuing increased organizational performance and productivity by aiming at the obvious target, i.e. the workforce. The health care sector, in which production processes are more complicated compared to other industries, is not an exception. In light of recent legislation in Greece in which efficiency improvement and achievement of specific performance targets are identified as undisputable health system goals, the purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid instrument for investigating the attitudes of Greek physicians, nurses and administrative personnel towards job-related aspects, and the extent to which these motivate them to improve performance and increase productivity.

Because the demand for health services outstrips the available resources, priority setting is one of the most difficult issues faced by health policy makers, particularly those in developing countries. The objective of this paper is to describe priority setting in a teaching hospital in Uganda and evaluate the description against an ethical framework for fair priority setting processes. [from abstract]

The aim of this interventional study was to assess, document and improve the Patient-held Record System in the Emtshezi Subdistrict. The study began in 1998 and was conducted using a Quality Assurance Cycle, which focuses on systems and processes and encourages a team approach to problem solving and quality improvement. [from abstract]

In South Africa, the distribution of doctors is skewed in favour of the urban areas, but it is not uncommon to find many peri-urban facilities in short supply of doctors. In 1997, the South African government introduced compulsory community service (CS) to address this uneven distribution of doctors in the country. The CS doctors posted to the Letaba-Sekororo hospital complex in Limpopo Province refused to take up their appointments for various reasons, ranging from lack of supervision to poor basic infrastructure. This study is one of the earliest conducted to understand the perceptions of hospital managers on the impact of the national community service on the health service. [publisher’s description]

There is growing interest in the migration of doctors from Africa to developed nations. Little attention has been made in understanding the flow of doctors into African countries. The objective of this article is to describe the nationality, country of primary qualification as a doctor and specialties of doctors registered in Malawi in 2003. [from abstract]

The checklist described in this document has been developed as a tool to assist those involved in a systematic review of the human resource development component of the NTP. This component is often referred to as “training.” In this document, the term training is used in a broader context than the more traditional interpretation of the term, where training refers to organization and implementation of training courses. Training in this document is often replaced by the term “HR development” to stress the need for a broader and more long-term approach within NTPs. [from introduction]

This strategy paper takes stock of “best practice” experiences in supporting communities in their response to HIV/AIDS in several countries in Africa. It draws lessons from Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania and sheds light on methods that a growing number of organizations and individuals use to foster behavior change among people living in rural areas. The success stories presented in this paper prove that it is both possible and promising to implement HIV/AIDS programs that include several components and multiple sectors at the community level. [from forwa

This study examines the relationship between medical practice and type of clinic ownership in HeBei province in the People’s Republic of China. The objective was to find out whether the kind of clinic ownership affects health care delivery patterns and access to health care. The study was carried out between 1995 and 2000 by a team of researchers from China, Israel and the Netherlands. [from preface]

This presentation is from the director of the Department Human Resources for Health of the World Health Organization. It presents information on health workforce issues including shortages and distribution problems, provides a summary of the major projects and initiatives addressing the crisis, and discusses the role of WHO in HRH.

NORAD commissioned this study in order to learn how the human resource challenge currently is being addressed in Tanzania. A second aim of the study was to identify knowledge gaps for the development of evidence-based human resource strategies in Tanzania. [from introduction]

This presentation discusses the AMRN role of strengthening nurses and midwives in their responses to HIV/AIDS by improving their knowledge and skills in evidence based practice, research, counseling, advocacy and education. Included is information about the magnitude of the HIV/AIDS problem and some strategies that AMRN has used to address the problem through nurses and midwives.

This report presents findings from Phase 3 of an assessment of the human resources implications of HIV/AIDS services scale-up in Rwanda. It focuses on the staffing implications and associated costs of HIV/AIDS services scale-up. By documenting current staffing levels and the level of effort necessary to provide HIV/AIDS services, Phase 3 of the study analyzes how many full-time equivalent (FTE) staff will be needed, and at what costs, if the Government of Rwanda is to meet its HIV/AIDS service delivery objectives. The human resources projections are based on data gathered during Phases 1 and 2 of the study.

This first issue of Focus on… presents information about the benefits and challenges of linking HIV/AIDS services and family planning and related reproductive health care. To highlight the major issues of integration (also called linkages), Focus on… summarizes key points from selected resources—most from the past 3 years—that reflect field successes, lessons learned, and further avenues for research.

This Kenya assessment is part of a multicountry initiative to provide data and options to policymakers and donors amidst for building the capacity of health care systems in low resource countries through recruitment, training, and deployment of public and private health workers. The assessments look at how human resource (HR) policy and workload planning can address personnel shortages, specifically, gross imbalances across urban and rural areas and among personnel categories, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and lab technicians. [adapted from author]

This user’s guide contains materials needed to design and implement the Quick Investigation of Quality (QIQ) in a given country. QIQ refers to the set of three related data collection instruments designed to monitor 25 indicators of quality of care in clinic-based family planning programs. This volume includes an overview of the QIQ (including objectives, short list of indicators, and methodological and ethical issues), guidelines for sampling and training of field personnel, instruments and guidelines for data collection and summary results from short list of indicators (tabular and graphic forms).

Performance lmprovement (PI), a process pioneered in industry, is now helping to strengthen reproductive health organizations. PI focuses on meeting the needs of service providers and other staff members. When programs enable and inspire staff to do their best, the quality of care improves. [author’s description]


This Population Report covers how to: define desire performance, describe actual performance, measurs/describe performance gaps, find the root causes, select and implement interventions, monitor and evaluate performance and manage change.

The purpose of the Regional Strategy is to provide Member States with a range of policy options and strategic actions from which to choose. The strategy’s framework for action is comprised of five interrelated strategic objectives organized around three key result areas, with suggested national actions to achieve them and WHO enabling responses. The key result areas are:a health workforce that is responsive to population health needs, or demand; effective and efficient workforce development, deployment and retention, or supply; and workforce governance and management.

The Health Management Information System (HMIS) in Kwale District, Coast Province is Kenya’s first computerised district-level HMIS. A joint effort of the Ministry of Health and the Community Health Department of the Aga Khan Health Service, Kenya, the system uses simple, user-friendly software developed by Data Dynamics Limited to collect and analyse data from local health facilities.

AIDS-related stigma and discrimination is a pervasive problem worldwide. People living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) in India, as elsewhere, face stigma and discrimination in a variety of contexts, including the household, community, workplace, and health care setting. Research in India has shown that stigma and discrimination against HIV-positive people and those perceived to be infected are common in hospitals and act as barriers to seeking and receiving critical treatment and care services (UNAIDS 2001). Recognizing the need to move beyond documentation of the problem, three New Delhi hospitals; SHARAN, an Indian NGO; and the Horizons Program, with support from the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), carried out an operations research project to develop and test responses to hospital-based stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS.

Pathfinder has provided community-based family planning and reproductive health services to women and men throughout the developing world for over 50 years. Partnerships with local governments and Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) allow Pathfinder access into communities to provide information and services. These local organizations provide a solid, established network through which Pathfinder reaches people. Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) are a vital extension of this network. [author’s description]

Government and donor funds fail to meet growing demands for reproductive health care in the public sector. Strategies to support uch services include: convince governments to invest more in family planning; use market segmentation to direct subsidies to the poor and to direct clients who can afford to pay to the private sector; encourage public-private partnerships to increase use of the private sector; increase the efficiency of service provision in the public sector; plan for the phase-out of donor-provided contraceptives. [author’s description]

The handbook is a resource collection of information sheets and participatory activities for NGOs working on HIV/AIDS who want to work towards a greater involvement of people living with HIV (GIPA) in their work. It aims at sensitising NGOs, building individual skills and organisational capacities so that NGO management, staff and volunteers can discuss and plan together in a participatory way how to meaningfully involve people living with HIV in their organisation. [from introduction]

This issue of the HST Update contains articles on: overview of nursing in South Africa, transforming nursing education towards primary health care, problems in nursing today, nursing summit charters a way forward, placement of nurses, nurse training in Mount Frere health district, and the quest for rational drug use.

In order to identify potentially effective models of home-based care (HBC) within which paediatric palliative care could be integrated, and to identify critical aspects requiring strengthening, the NMCF commissioned an in-depth evaluation of three NGOs that have been supported through the Goelama Program. The objectives of the evaluation were: to evaluate the current capacity of the three HBC projects to provide paediatric palliative care as a component of overall HBC - this focused on the overall management of the projects, as well as the competencies of carers to provide both general HBC and palliative care to children; To explore the possibilities for strengthening the provision of paediatric palliative care as an integrated component of HBC; and to explore the role of home-based carers and HBC projects in the provision of ART to children. [author’s description]