• Global health trust

Global health trust

This Joint Learning Initiative working paper examines the relationship between health outcomes and human resources for health (HRH). By taking into account the main social and economic determinants for health, the authors develop a more reliable and comprehensive dataset on human resources for health. Findings from the study show that physicians, nurses and midwives together significantly lower maternal, infant and child mortality rates. The authors also find that the impact of HRH is greater in averting maternal mortality than infant or child mortality. This is because qualified medical personnel are able to address a larger proportion of conditions which put mothers at immediate risk of death compared to infants and children.

The authors note that the performance of human resources in attaining health-systems goals is dependent on distribution across occupations and geographical regions, as well as on other factors such as incentive and decision-making structures. However, they conclude that HRH plays a significant role in determining health outcomes. Thus, they argue, in addition to raising national income per capita, reducing absolute poverty and expanding female education, HRH should be explicitly considered as part of a strategy to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Ignoring HRH, they argue, could render the MDGs unattainable. [adapted from author]

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