The Health Workforce in Africa: Challenges and Prospects
A report of the Africa Working Group of the Joint Learning Initiative on Human Resources for Health and Development
2006
"The report of the Africa Working Group (Joint Learning Initiative) is in 4 main parts covering a situation analysis, opportunites that arise, and the preconditions for effective strategies. Part I discusses the health crisis in Africa and the human resources in health challenges as it tries to meet health objectives. It discusses the causes and underlying factors behind the shortage of health workers in Africa, and compares the situation with other parts of the world. The effect of other issues, including HIV/AIDS, on the workforce is also analysed in Part I. Part II examines the opportunities that currently exist and how the international community and countries can respond in making human resources in health systems capable of delivering the development goals. This section examines the role of various stakeholders at global, regional, and national levels and discusses positive examples of action taken by some countries to counter the crisis. In Part III, the report looks at how Africa could respond to the human resources crisis and examines the policy environment for strategy development and implementation. Future challenges are also discussed including the macroeconomic and social environments that influence the organization of health services. This includes discussions of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and its effect on the mobility of the health workforce. In Part IV the report ends with recommendations that evolved during the working group's deliberations and are aimed at helping countries, regional organizations and international partners and agencies to construct a framework for tackling the challenges instead of simply offering standardised prescriptions."
