International Journal of Health Policy and Management

International Journal of Health Policy and Management

Reflections on Health Workforce Development; Comment on “Health Professional Training and Capacity Strengthening Through International Academic Partnerships: The First Five Years of the Human Resources for Health Program in Rwanda”

Document Type : Commentary

Author
Gilles Dussault
Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
10.15171/ijhpm.2018.129
Abstract
This commentary addresses the statement that “the authors believe that the HRH [Human Resources for Health] Program can serve as a model for other initiatives that seek to address the shortage of qualified health professionals in low-income countries and strengthen the long-term capacity of local academic institutions.” I adopt the position of the devil’s advocate and ask whether a country, with a profile comparable to Rwanda’s, should adopt this twinning model. I suggest that the alignment with population and other capacity development needs should be the main criteria of decision.
Keywords
Capacity Development
Health Workforce
Academic Partnerships
Subjects
  1. Cancedda C, Cotton P, Shema J, et al. Health professional training and capacity strengthening through international academic partnerships: the first 5 years of the Human Resources for Health Program in Rwanda. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2018;7(11):1024–1039. doi:10.15171/ijhpm.2018.61
  2. World Health Organization, UNICEF. Declaration of Alma-Ata, International Conference on Primary Health Care, Alma-Ata, USSR, September 6-12, 1978. http://www.who.int/publications/almaata_declaration_en.pdf
  3. World Health Organization. A Vision for Primary Health Care in the 21st Century: Toward Universal Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals: Draft. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2018. 
  4. Cometto G et al, Health policy and system support to optimise community health worker programmes: an abridged WHO guideline. Lancet Glob Health. 2018;6(12):e1397-e1404. doi:10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30482-0
  5. Cailhol J, Craveiro I, Madede T, et al.Analysis of HRH strategies and policies in 5 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, in response to GFATM and PEPFAR-funded HIV-activities. Global Health. 2013;9:52. doi:10.1186/1744-8603-9-52
  6. World Health Organization. Global strategy on human resources for health: Workforce 2030. Geneva: WHO; 2016; http://www.who.int/hrh/resources/pub_globstrathrh-2030/en/
International Journal of Health Policy and Management
Volume 8, Issue 4
April 2019
Pages 245-246

  • Received Date 29 October 2018
  • Revised Date 15 December 2018
  • Accepted Date 16 December 2018
  • First Published Date 01 April 2019
  • Published Date 01 April 2019