Workforce Resources for Health in Developing Countries

Abstract

With increased globalization and interdependence among countries, sustained health worker migration and the complex threats of rapidly spreading infectious diseases, as well as changing lifestyles, a strong health workforce is essential. Building the human resources for health should not only include healthcare professionals like physicians and nurses, but must take into consideration community health workers, mid-level workers and strengthened primary healthcare systems to increase coverage and address the basic health needs of societies. This is especially true in low and middle-income countries where healthcare access is a critical challenge.There is a global crisis in the health workforce, expressed in acute shortages and maldistribution of health workers, geographically and professionally. This massive global shortage, though imprecise quantitatively, is estimated at more than 4 million workers. To respond to this crisis, policies and actions are needed to address the dynamics of the health labour market and the production and management of the health workforce, and to strengthen the performance of existing health systems. Schools of public health need to develop the range of capacity and leadership in addition to the traditional training of healthcare managers and researchers. Countries should fi rst identify their health problems in order to properly address their health worker needs, retention, recruitment and training, if they are to come close to reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for health.

Evidence-based practice in local public health service in Ghana

“…Similarly, the call is underpinned by the changing dynamics in the new public health arena (Baum, 2008) coupled with the recent global financial crisis, which has compelled most governments in high-income countries (HICs) and low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) as well as donor agencies to cut down on budgetary allocations for public health and health promotion interventions. The case becomes more challenging as most public health services are now being moved to the local level in both HICs and LMICs alike (Bangdiwala, Fonn, Okoye & Tollman, 2010;Green, 2013) thus placing a huge responsibility on local public health managers. To meet these global challenges, local public health managers need to think globally and act locally, and to also strategically equip and reorient themselves to the basic tenets of evidence-based public health (EBPH).…”

Addressing the human resource for health crisis in Tanzania: the lost in transition syndrome

“…There is a global crisis in the health workforce, expressed in acute shortages and maldistribution of health workers, geographically and professionally. This massive global shortage, though imprecise quantitatively, is estimated at more than 4 million workers (Bangdiwala et al, 2010). Africa bears one-third of the global burden of diseases but contain only 3% of the global health workforce.…”

Scale, Causes, and Implications of the Primary Care Nursing Shortage

“…A survey of health care workers conducted in six African countries found that the leading factors behind health care worker migration included better work conditions, efforts to obtain additional education and training, and higher or more realistic remuneration (4,49). Other factors, including job satisfaction, perceptions of work environment, ability to utilize one's own professional skills, organizational environment, career opportunities, trust in management of health services, general political and administrative governance, bureaucratic efficiency and fairness, availability of protective gear (especially from HIV/AIDS), welfare, and benefits to health care workers during employment and retirement, have been listed as reasons for international migration (11,17,33,44).…”

“…The current primary nursing care environment strengthens the call for better data as well as for effective operational research and evaluation. This research is required to inform policy makers and senior managers of the most current and effective solutions in primary care and to guide efforts to develop a sustainable health care workforce to address the health of an entire country's population (4).…”