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Assessing human resources for health: what can be learned from labour force surveys?
A comparison of the health workforce in 18 countries
Authors:
N. Gupta; K. Diallo; P. Zurn; M. R. Dal Poz
Publisher:
Human Resources for Health, 2003
Human resources are an essential element of a health system's inputs, and yet there is a huge disparity among countries in how human resource policies and strategies are developed and implemented. The analysis of the impacts of services on population health and well-being attracts more interest than analysis of the situation of the workforce in this area.
This article, published by the journal Human Resource for Health, presents an international comparison of the health workforce in terms of skill mix, sociodemographics and other labour force characteristics, in order to establish an evidence base for monitoring and evaluation of human resources for health. Considerable cross-national variations were observed in terms of the share of the health workforce in the total labour market, with little discernible pattern by geographical region or type of economy. The study also found that gender inequity in the workforce remains an important shortcoming of many health systems. [adapted from author]
