International Journal of Health Policy and Management

International Journal of Health Policy and Management

Defining Sub-Saharan Africa’s Health Workforce Needs: Going Forwards Quickly Into the Past; Comment on “Non-physician Clinicians in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Evolving Role of Physicians”

Document Type : Commentary

Authors
E. Oluwabunmi Olapade-Olaopa 1
Nelson K. Sewankambo 2
Jehu E. Iputo 3
1 College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
2 College of Health Sciences, Makarere University, Kampala, Uganda
3 Department of Medical Education, Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha, South Africa
10.15171/ijhpm.2016.100
Abstract
Recent proposals for re-defining the roles Africa’s health workforce are a continuation of the discussions that have been held since colonial times. The proposals have centred on basing the continent’s healthcare delivery on non-physician clinicians (NPCs) who can be quickly trained and widely distributed to treat majority of the common diseases. Whilst seemingly logical, the success of these proposals will depend on the development of clearly defined professional duties for each cadre of healthcare workers (HCW) taking the peculiarities of each country into consideration. As such the continent-wide efforts aimed at health-professional curriculum reforms, more effective utilisation of task-shifting as well as the intra – and inter-disciplinary collaborations must be encouraged. Since physicians play a major role in the training mentoring and supervision of physician and nonphysician health-workers alike, the maintenance of the standards of university medical education is central to the success of all health system models. It must also be recognized that, efforts at improving Africa’s health systems can only succeed if the necessary socio-economic, educational, and technological infrastructure are in place.

Highlights

 

Watch the Video Summary here. 

 

Keywords
Medical Education
Human Resources for Health
African Health Systems
Non-physician Clinicians
(NPCs)
Task-Shifting
Health System Reform
Subjects

 

 

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International Journal of Health Policy and Management
Volume 6, Issue 2
2017
Pages 111-113

  • Received Date 14 June 2016
  • Revised Date 15 August 2016
  • Accepted Date 27 July 2016
  • First Published Date 01 February 2017
  • Published Date 01 February 2017